Lincoln Memorial

Thirty-six massive Doric columns encircle the Lincoln Memorial, representing the thirty-six states in the Union at the time of Abraham Lincoln's death. The white marble structure sits at the western end of the National Mall, housing a nineteen-foot seated figure of the president. Architect Henry Bacon designed the temple to appear as if it grew from the swampy landfill, but the foundation required concrete piles driven down to bedrock. The memorial commemorates the man who preserved the fractured nation during the Civil War.