Baltimore’s Washington Monument towers 178 feet from the highest point in Baltimore and pre-dates the more famous one in Washington DC by more than 50 years making it the first architectural monument planned to honor George Washington…

Just 10 years after George Washington died in 1799, a group of citizens organized a lottery to raise $100,000 for Baltimore’s monument. Robert Mills, who later designed the other Washington Monument, won the commission to design Baltimore’s tribute to Washington. Begun in 1815, the grandiose design was scaled back several times before its completion in 1829. A Doric column rising from a square base, the monument is topped with a statue of Washington in a Roman toga. Climbing the 228 steps to the top provides an excellent view of the city from the historic Mount Vernon neighborhood where it is located.