Episode 2 of 2
Aluminum Apex Installation
- When
- December 6, 1884
- Where
- National Mall
The 100-ounce aluminum apex was installed on December 6, 1884, completing the stone structure and marking the monument's completion.
The apex, originally designed as a single lightning rod, was put in place on December 6, 1884. This installation finalized the stone structure, which had been completed earlier in the year. The apex was 8.9 inches tall before lightning damage occurred in later years.
Sources
- Washington Monument Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-30
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.