Not only is the Washington Monument 555 feet 5 inches tall, it is also 55 feet wide at its base.
That’s even more fives!
But the reason for all the fives is pretty prosaic. When the Washington Monument was originally designed in the 1840s, it was determined that the base would be 55 feet wide.
The original plan was to build it 600 feet high, but the initial stage of construction was halted in 1854 (chiefly due to lack of funds), the private company organizing the construction went bankrupt, and the project lay dormant for more than 20 years.
Congress passed a resolution to fully fund the construction in July 1876, and it appointed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to oversee construction.
The new architect. Lt. Col. Thomas Lincoln Casey, determined that the height of an obelisk, following ancient designs, should be 10 times that of the base. Since the base had already been determined as 55 feet wide, the height was changed to 555 feet tall.
