The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865. No memorial to his memory was built in the city he led through civil war.

In 1889, a horrible flood devastated the city of Washington. Civic leaders decided to dredge the Potomac River down to bedrock to help lessen the chance of another disaster. The fill dirt was used to fill in the tidal pools of the Potomac River and exten the National Mall to its present size. (Most of the Mall west of the Washington Monument and below Constituion Avenue NW did not exist at that time.)

By 1901, most of the "new" National Mall was ready for use. The McMillan Commission proposed siting a major memorial to Lincoln's memory on the western end of the mall. A bill to create a memorial commission finally passed Congress in 1910. Architect Henry Bacon's design for a Greek temple was chosen in 1913. Sculptor Daniel Chester French supplied the design for the statue.

Two changes were made. First, the statue was doubled in size. Second, a vast bronze and glass grillework (meant to close the monument at night) was excluded as well. Ground was broken on February 12, 1914, and the memorial completed on May 30, 1922.

The memorial is heavy with symbolism, including eagles and fasces (representing the law).