Thread by @MiningNS

Washington’s #LincolnMemorial honours the United States’ 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s many accomplishments include leading the US through the civil war and delivering the Emancipation Proclamation which led to the abolition of slavery.
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Ground was broken for the foundation of the Lincoln Memorial on February 12, 1914. Because the memorial was to be built on drained and filled land, the memorial’s foundation had two parts.
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The sub-foundation is made up of 122 solid, poured concrete piers with steel reinforcing rods anchored in bedrock. The upper-foundation is a second series of piers resting on the primary columns.
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The top piers are all joined together by poured concrete arches that form the floor of the memorial, later covered with a sheathing of marble. The foundation work was completed in May 1915.
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Work on the memorial slowed in 1917 when the United States entered WWI and there were labour and material shortages.
Stones from all over the US were used to symbolize the reunification of the nation after the civil war: The terrace walls and lower steps are...
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...granite blocks from Massachusetts. The upper steps, outside facade, and columns are marble blocks from Colorado. The interior walls and columns are Indiana limestone. The floor is pink Tennessee marble. The ceiling tiles are Alabama marble.
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The Lincoln statue was assembled from 28 pieces of Georgia marble in 1919-1920. It weighs 175 tons.
The statue was originally going to be 12 feet tall (sitting) but it was decided that the statue would be lost in such a huge building so they made it 19 feet tall.
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If the statue could stand, it would be 28 feet tall. Steel struts were added beneath the floor in 1918 to support the added weight from the larger statue.
In 1921 roadways and walks were built, trees and shrubberies were planted, lawns seeded...
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...and huge, old boxwoods were transplanted to the memorial grounds.
The memorial’s 36 Doric columns represent the 36 states of the Union at the time of Lincoln's assassination in 1865.
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The memorial was dedicated on May 30, 1922. 50,000 people attended the ceremonies, including hundreds of Civil War veterans and Robert Todd Lincoln, the president's only surviving son.
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The Lincoln Memorial has been the setting for many famous scenes in US history, including Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech.
Happy #July4 to our American friends and colleagues.
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