Located at Mount Vernon Place in Baltimore, the colossal Greek Doric column of the Washington Monument, crowned with a statue of George Washington, is the first architectural monument erected in the United States, dedicated to the memory of the national hero and the first president of the country. Construction of the 178 feet 8 inches tall historical monument began in 1815 on a plot donated by Colonel John Eager Howard and the masonry work was completed by 1829.

In fact, even before his demise in 1799, the Congress advocated for the construction of a national monument dedicated to Washington for his contribution to the nation. But it was not until 1848 that the construction of the grand obelisk began in Washington DC. However, long before that, the people of Baltimore rose to the occasion and under the direction of a Board of Managers comprised of the city’s prominent citizens and leadership of Robert Gilmor Jr, Baltimore’s foremost patron of the arts, planned and proceeded to built the tall column in their city, in the loving memory of the most revered and memorialized figure in American history. The responsibility to design the monument was entrusted to Robert Mills, regarded as America’s first native-born and trained architect, who later designed the Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington DC. Nevertheless, under the supervision of the contractors Towson & Steuart, the monument was constructed by the local craftsmen of Baltimore, utilizing locally quarried marble and other indigenous materials.

The 16 feet 6 inches tall statue of George Washington, mounted on a circular base atop the column was created by Italian-born sculptor Enrico Causici. The statue depicts an important and significant moment in the life of Washington, as he was shown in the act of resigning his military commission in Annapolis, Maryland’s capital city, holding a scroll in his outstretched right hand, probably containing his resignation.

Although Robert Mills capitalized upon his unique American status to secure the commission, but his design of the Washington Monument in Baltimore is evocative of European models, notably Trajan’s Column in Rome and the Vendome Column in Paris, which were based on the Roman precedent. However, apart from the apparent resemblance, there are differences too. The Vendôme Column in Paris was modelled after the Trajan’s Column in Rome. Like the Trajan’s Column, Washington Monument is mounted on a base that houses a chamber and both have hollow shafts containing a spiral staircase that leads to a viewing platform at its top. However, while the Trajan’s Column is ringed with bas relief depictions of epic battles, Washington Monument in Baltimore is unornamented and punctuated only by three small windows that light the stair. Apart from that, the base of the Trajan’s Column contains a burial vault and in Washington Monument in Baltimore it is a small gallery, displaying the facts about the construction of the Monument, its restoration in the 21st century and the history of Mount Vernon. In fact, based on those examples, Mills designed a prototype American monument, reflecting his own ideals of a young nation in search of identity.

The Washington Monument in Baltimore was installed well outside the limits of the early nineteenth century city and during that time, it was the only monument at Mount Vernon Square. However, the installation of the Washington Monument was closely followed by the construction of the Battle Monument in Lafayette Square and the two projects helped Baltimore to earn the prestigious title of The Monumental City.

The monument and its surrounding park landscape gradually set the tone for the development of a fashionable residential area and it became a cultural centre that remains one of America’s most sophisticated urban squares. On the other hand, the monuments brought national attention to Baltimore and also sparked a rash of constructing monuments and statuary buildings throughout the country that lasted for over a century.

Since 1971, the city of Baltimore has held the annual Lighting of the Washington Monument during the first Thursday in December and in the same year the Washington Monument in Baltimore was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971.