# Why is the washington Monument off-axis (N/S) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 24, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-washington-monument-off-axis-n-s/465060 "2008-09-24T20:53:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-washington-monument-off-axis-n-s/465060/1 "2008-09-24T20:53:17Z")
Looking at the overhead layout of DC you can see that the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol lie on a perfect east-west line. The White House and the Jefferson Memorial lie on a perfect north-south line. Where these lines intersect are the grounds of the Washington Monument. However the monument itself while lying on the east-west line does not touch the north-south line and misses it by (50-100?) yards. Why didn’t they build it directly at this intersection? (some googling says something about poor soil conditions but I can’t tell how reliable that is) ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-washington-monument-off-axis-n-s/465060/2 "2008-09-24T20:56:57Z")
Because the Jefferson Memorial didn’t exist when they plotted the site for the Washington Monument, so no line was established with the White House? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-washington-monument-off-axis-n-s/465060/3 "2008-09-24T21:00:49Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Because the Jefferson Memorial didn’t exist when they plotted the site for the Washington Monument, so no line was established with the White House? True. But I still wonder why it wasn’t built due south of the White House. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-washington-monument-off-axis-n-s/465060/4 "2008-09-24T21:08:17Z")
It’s not like we’re building Washington DC as some sort of coded architecture for future generations to decode. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-washington-monument-off-axis-n-s/465060/5 "2008-09-24T21:38:56Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > It’s not like we’re building Washington DC as some sort of coded architecture for future generations to decode. Although that would be awesome. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-washington-monument-off-axis-n-s/465060/6 "2008-09-24T22:08:18Z")
It’s probably due to Washington’s sage counsel that we avoid entangling alignments. [d&r] ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-washington-monument-off-axis-n-s/465060/7 "2008-09-24T22:13:22Z")
If you look at this [map](http://historicalcharts.noaa.gov/historical_jpgs/DC1839C.jpg) (warning GIANT JPEG!) of Washington in 1839, you’ll note that most of the area that is now The Mall west of the White House was part of the Potomac River (what is now Constitution Ave. was a canal), so it is perhaps not surprising that the Monument could not be built at the optimal spot. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-washington-monument-off-axis-n-s/465060/8 "2008-09-24T22:16:41Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > It’s not like we’re building Washington DC as some sort of coded architecture for future generations to decode. We are. The information is encoded in the deviations from perfect alignment. To make an analogy to radio, the different “perfect” lines are the carrier waves and the deviations are the modulations containing the information. That’s the most I can say on a public forum. ---
**Author:** ![Carnacki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Carnacki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnacki)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-washington-monument-off-axis-n-s/465060/9 "2008-09-24T22:43:40Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > We are. The information is encoded in the deviations from perfect alignment. To make an analogy to radio, the different “perfect” lines are the carrier waves and the deviations are the modulations containing the information. > > That’s the most I can say on a public forum. That’s actually more than you can say. What you thought you said has been changed. Say more, and you will be silenced. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-washington-monument-off-axis-n-s/465060/10 "2008-09-25T00:27:11Z")
From [Encyclopedia Britannica](http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/636513/Washington-Monument): > [@](#): > > The sheer weight of the proposed monument required moving the site from the location specified in L’Enfant’s design to a point 350 feet (110 metres) to the northeast, thereby slightly disrupting the axial relationship to the other buildings. The ground at the desired location was just too soft to support the monument. ---
**Author:** ![ArmenE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ArmenE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArmenE)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-washington-monument-off-axis-n-s/465060/11 "2008-09-25T15:03:25Z")
Actually, it seems that the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol do not lie on a perfect East-West axis - the center of the Capitol is a hundred yards or so to the north of the center of the Lincoln Memorial. Easy check - find one of the two in google maps , line it’s center up with the top of the map, and scroll east (or west). If this deviation were strong enough, one might say that in fact it is the Jefferson Memorial that was built off-axis, but no, that’s not the case - the angle formed by WH-WM-LM is still acute. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-washington-monument-off-axis-n-s/465060/12 "2008-09-27T01:27:17Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Looking at the overhead layout of DC you can see that the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol lie on a perfect east-west line. The White House and the Jefferson Memorial lie on a perfect north-south line. > Where these lines intersect are the grounds of the Washington Monument. However the monument itself while lying on the east-west line does not touch the north-south line and misses it by (50-100?) yards. > Why didn’t they build it directly at this intersection? > > (some googling says something about poor soil conditions but I can’t tell how reliable that is) “Worthy of the Nation-The History of Planning for the National Capital”, by Gutheim, Frederick, Consultant for the National Capital Planning Commission, Frazier, Samuel K., Jr., andSpiegel, Ruth W., 1977 (c) Smithsonian Institution on page 51, substantiates that the siting of the monument, begun in 1848, off the straight line axis resulted from fears of foundation problems on the former agricultural land. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-washington-monument-off-axis-n-s/465060/13 "2008-09-27T01:50:49Z")
That’s where the treasure is buried. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-washington-monument-off-axis-n-s/465060/14 "2008-09-27T04:03:41Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > That’s where the treasure is buried. Obligatory lyrics reference follows - warning: ear-worm! “Turned the stone and looked beneath it… ‘Peace on Earth’ was all it said.”