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Attractions

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Washington, DC · National MallFreeFree; no fees or reservations

About

When construction began on the Jefferson Memorial in 1938, 50 women marched on the White House to keep cherry trees on the Tidal Basin from being uprooted. The next day they chained themselves to a tree. Peak bloom around the basin has ranged from March 15 to April 18. Rudulph Evans's bronze Jefferson, holding the Declaration of Independence, replaced a wartime plaster stand-in in 1947. The frieze carries a line from Jefferson's 1800 letter to Benjamin Rush: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

Highlights

Domed neoclassical rotunda on the Tidal Basin19-foot bronze statue of Thomas JeffersonJefferson's words carved into the interior wallsCherry blossoms, mid-March to early AprilFree and open 24 hours

Getting there

16 East Basin Drive SW, Washington, DC 20024

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