Joy Clark, age 11, of Hattiesburg, Miss., for her question:

HOW TALL IS THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT?

At the west end of the Mall of Washington, D.C., stands the Washington Monument, the national memorial erected by the authority of the U.S. Congress to honor the memory of the nations first President, George Washington.

Constructed in the form of a hollow shaft or obelisk, the monument is 555 feet high. This is about the same height a8 a 55 story building.

The outer walls of the monument are faced with white marble from Maryland and the apex is formed by a capstone of solid aluminum. The inner walls include stone blocks donated (and inscribed) by individual states, foreign governments and private individuals.

In 1833 the Washington National Monument Society was formed to raise funds for a memorial to George Washington. Congress authorized the society to begin construction in 1848 and on July 4 of that year, the cornerstone was laid with the same trowel used by Washington in 1793 to lay the cornerstone of the Capitol.

Political wrangling and the American Civil War delayed completion until 1884. The official dedication took place on   21, 1885 and the monument was opened to the public three years later.