In a city filled with a lot of memorials, including some grand ones named after men like Lincoln and Washington, this memorial seems tiny in comparison. I didn’t even know it existed until I came across it while making my way from the Reflecting Pool to the newish Martin Luther King Memorial. It was built as tribute to the 26,000 residents from the DC area who served in the First World War.
The site occupies 2-acres and is surrounded by a deciduous trees. At the center is the circular memorial designed to resemble a small Greek temple, with 12 Doric columns supporting a domed roof. The white marble used to build it was quarried in Vermont. It is 47 feet high and 44 feet wide.
This used to be a polo field, but when the House of Representatives approved the construction of the War Memorial in 1924 it requested the site be suitable for public concerts. The completed project was dedicated by President Hoover in front of thousands of onlookers in 1931. The 499 names of those from the District of Columbia who lost their lives in the World War are inscribed on the memorial.
