Lincoln Memorial
The exact steps where King delivered "I Have a Dream" on August 28, 1963 — stand there and the date stops being abstract.
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Henry Bacon's neoclassical temple, dedicated May 30, 1922, frames a marble Lincoln carved by the Piccirilli brothers from Daniel Chester French's 1920 design. Inside, the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln's second inaugural address are carved into the walls. The memorial has served as a gathering point for civil rights demonstrations for decades.
What to look for
- The large interior Lincoln statue — marble, executed by the Piccirilli brothers from French's 1920 design, with Jules Guérin's murals and Royal Cortissoz's epitaph overhead
- Doric columns ringing the exterior temple
- Inscribed texts of the Gettysburg Address and the second inaugural address on the interior walls
Open to the public 24 hours a day; administered by the National Park Service under National Mall and Memorial Parks.
Lincoln Memorial is one of 37 sights worth the detour in Washington, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Washington pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Washington
- White HouseBritish forces torched it in 1814. It has been the U.S. president's home and office ever since.
- The PentagonDesigned and built in 16 months during World War II — 17.5 miles of corridors, a five-acre central courtyard, and a 9/11 memorial at the exact point of impact.
- United States CapitolEvery street address in Washington DC radiates outward from this building — it is literally the zero point of the city.
- Washington MonumentThe faint color seam partway up the shaft marks where construction stopped for 23 years.
- Smithsonian InstitutionBritish scientist James Smithson left a bequest that became 157 million objects, 21 museums, and a zoo — almost all free to walk into.
- Arlington National CemeteryThe ground holding 400,000 graves was seized from Robert E. Lee's own family over an unpaid tax bill in 1864.