DC Map Grid
Speaking of the Washington Monument, Alison faithfully retells the story that has 'come down to us' about the positioning of that: "The original plan for the city called for the Washington Monument to be located at the intersection of the north-south axis of the White House and the east-west axis of the Capitol building. It was later determined that the ground at this location was not stable enough to support the weight of the monument and it was ultimately constructed to the east and slightly to the south of it's originally intended location." Both the location and the design of the monument have been radically altered, according to this tale. Supposedly L'Enfant wanted to see an equestrian statue of George Washington at the axis crossing, but what we see today is a 555 foot tall obelisk shape located 371 feet east and 123 feet to the south of there. Remember that the monument is 55 feet wide and has a support 'pad' with an 80 foot diameter. When the story says that "the ground at this location was not stable", we have to realize that we are not talking about one point, but a large area of land. The story implies that engineers went to that place and did some probing and testing in an 80 foot area in order to reach their findings, but if you look at the old DC map, you will see that there was never really much land there. [Note that the Potomac in 1791 rose and fell visably with the tides.] As you can see, this 'correct map' of DC from 1820 shows that point in the middle of the Tiber Creek. Latrobe depicts a plan for the area like this in 1818. Note that the Tiber was never closed off as he suggests here. He shows that point being on the bank of the creek, and in 1855, the Jefferson Pier which resides on this spot was still described as being "on the sea wall". The building to the right was a proposed university site. In spite of what some people say about L'Enfant designing a monument on the bank of the creek, you can plainly see from the image below that he intended for the whole area surrounding that to be filled in as it is today. In the image above, it is evident that no landscaping was done there by 1818. By 1862, the entire rest of the Tiber had been converted to a canal, but the Jeferson Pier, the axis point, remained on the edge of the creek. The fact is that no attempt was made in 70 years to fill that area in, guaranteeing that the monument would not be located on that point; and we are told that the ground was 'unstable' there. The monument is displaced in two planes in the map, it is east of the N-S line through the WH and south of the E-W line through the CB. If you look at the cross-section of the Great Pyramid, you will see that the Queen's Chamber (in the west looking view) is offset from the King's Chamber and that the passage leading to the QC has a 2 foot step down in it; it too is displaced in two planes. It has already been pointed out that New Hampshire Ave produces a traingle with base angles very close to those of the GP. If you look at the next image which features the straigthened Penn Ave as a blue line, you can see how well the elements of the map match features of the pyramid. Continue

DC Map Grid

Speaking of the Washington Monument, Alison faithfully retells the story that has 'come down to us' about the positioning of that:
"The original plan for the city called for the Washington Monument to be located at the intersection of the north-south axis of the White House and the east-west axis of the Capitol building. It was later determined that the ground at this location was not stable enough to support the weight of the monument and it was ultimately constructed to the east and slightly to the south of it's originally intended location."
Both the location and the design of the monument have been radically altered, according to this tale. Supposedly L'Enfant wanted to see an equestrian statue of George Washington at the axis crossing, but what we see today is a 555 foot tall obelisk shape located 371 feet east and 123 feet to the south of there.
Remember that the monument is 55 feet wide and has a support 'pad' with an 80 foot diameter. When the story says that "the ground at this location was not stable", we have to realize that we are not talking about one point, but a large area of land. The story implies that engineers went to that place and did some probing and testing in an 80 foot area in order to reach their findings, but if you look at the old DC map, you will see that there was never really much land there. [Note that the Potomac in 1791 rose and fell visably with the tides.]

As you can see, this 'correct map' of DC from 1820 shows that point in the middle of the Tiber Creek.

Latrobe depicts a plan for the area like this in 1818. Note that the Tiber was never closed off as he suggests here. He shows that point being on the bank of the creek, and in 1855, the Jefferson Pier which resides on this spot was still described as being "on the sea wall". The building to the right was a proposed university site.

In spite of what some people say about L'Enfant designing a monument on the bank of the creek, you can plainly see from the image below that he intended for the whole area surrounding that to be filled in as it is today. In the image above, it is evident that no landscaping was done there by 1818.

By 1862, the entire rest of the Tiber had been converted to a canal, but the Jeferson Pier, the axis point, remained on the edge of the creek. The fact is that no attempt was made in 70 years to fill that area in, guaranteeing that the monument would not be located on that point; and we are told that the ground was 'unstable' there.

The monument is displaced in two planes in the map, it is east of the N-S line through the WH and south of the E-W line through the CB. If you look at the cross-section of the Great Pyramid, you will see that the Queen's Chamber (in the west looking view) is offset from the King's Chamber and that the passage leading to the QC has a 2 foot step down in it; it too is displaced in two planes.
It has already been pointed out that New Hampshire Ave produces a traingle with base angles very close to those of the GP. If you look at the next image which features the straigthened Penn Ave as a blue line, you can see how well the elements of the map match features of the pyramid.

Continue