The Lincoln Memorial

     Lincoln Memorial, national memorial authorized in 1911. Located in Washington D.C., the structure commemorates United States President Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865). The marble, granite, and limestone building is situated in Potomac Park on the east side of the Potomac River . It was designed by architect Henry Bacon in 1912 to resemble a classic Greek temple and cost nearly $3 million to build (equal to more than $26 million in the mid-1990s). Construction began in 1914 and the memorial was dedicated in 1922 on Lincoln's birthday, February 12. Lincoln's only surviving son,  Robert Todd Lincoln, was the guest of honor at the dedication.

     The outside of the building features a series of 36 Doric columns  that represent the states in the Union when Lincoln died in 1865. Each column is 13 m (44 ft) high and inscribed with the name of a state. Above these 36 names are the names of the 48 states of the Union when the memorial was built. The inside of the building contains three chambers. The central chamber is 18 m (60 ft) high and features a marble statue of the seated Lincoln. The statue is 5.8 m (19.0 ft) high and was designed by American sculptor Daniel French. It was assembled from 28 blocks of Georgia marble that were carved by the Piccirilli Brothers, a well-known family of marble sculptors. An inscription etched above the statue reads: "In this Temple, as in the hearts of the people, for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever".