Lincoln The original 1861 inauguration columns

[Stryker65]

Hey everyone,
Today I went to the U. S. National Arboretum in D.C., and had the fortune to come across an Acropolis-like structure of 22 giant stone columns. As it turned out, these stone columns were actually 22 out of the 24 that had stood on the portico of the Capitol during Lincoln's inauguration in 1861! (Not sure where the other 2 went) They were removed in 1958 when that section of the Capitol was expanded, and sent to the Arboretum as an exhibit. Did not expect to see something like that, especially at an arboretum! Sure made my day.
-Stryker

 

[David Moore]

According to this Wikipedia article the other two columns are on a nearby hill ( Mt Hamilton) but broken.
You were also very near Mt Olivet Cemetery which has the graves of some CW personages.

National Capitol Columns - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Sheltowee]

Never knew…..

 

[A. Roy]

Very cool to learn about this! I've seen photos of these columns before (or maybe noticed the columns themselves?), but never knew what they were. Interesting to see the photo on the marker with the columns today in the background!
ARB