Washington D.C.’s most famous monuments and memorials are concentrated on and around the National Mall. Maintained by the National Park Service (NPS), these iconic, free-to-visit sites are accessible 24/7 and offer a powerful look into the country’s history.
Currently this contains 77 items
Memorials: 53
Monuments: 15
Parks: 7
Historic sites: 5
U.S. Presidents: 8
People/groups tied to military service: 29
Civil War-related: 19
Revolutionary War-related: 6
World War I-related: 4
World War II-related: 5
Korean War-related: 2
Vietnam War-related: 2
U.S. Presidents represented: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Grant, FDR, Eisenhower, plus Ford’s Theatre is tied to Lincoln, and the Washington Monument/George Washington Statue both represent Washington.
Horse / equestrian statues in the list: about 12 clear equestrian monuments, including Bernardo de Gálvez, Casimir Pulaski, George Washington, John A. Logan, José de San Martín, José Gervasio Artigas, Philip Sheridan, Simón Bolívar, George H. Thomas, James B. McPherson, Winfield Scott Hancock, and Ulysses S. Grant.
The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial is a standout: the Architect of the Capitol describes it as the largest equestrian monument in the United States, measuring about 252 feet long, 71 feet wide, and 44 feet high.
The horse-leg “rule” / old wives’ tale
The common story is:
| Horse position | Supposed meaning |
|---|---|
| All 4 hooves on the ground | Rider died of natural causes |
| 1 front hoof raised | Rider was wounded in battle or died later from wounds |
| 2 front hooves raised | Rider died in battle |
But it is mostly a myth, not a reliable code. Snopes and other fact-checks have found the rule does not consistently hold up, even though it gets repeated on tours all the time.
Memorials, Monuments, Statues & Fountains
| Name | Info Link | Service / War / Public Role | Map |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admiral David G. Farragut Memorial | NPS | U.S. Navy; Civil War | Map |
| Admiral Samuel F. Dupont Memorial Fountain | Wikipedia | U.S. Navy; Civil War | Map |
| African American Civil War Memorial | NPS | U.S. Colored Troops; U.S. Navy; Civil War | Map |
| American Legion Freedom Bell | WikipediaNon-NPS / American Legion-related memorial. | American Legion; U.S. veterans | Map |
| American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial | NPS | U.S. veterans; disabled veterans; all wars | Map |
| Arts of Peace: Aspiration and Literature | NPS | Public art; peace-themed sculpture | Map |
| Benito Pablo Juárez Memorial | NPS | President of Mexico; political leader | Map |
| Bernardo de Gálvez Memorial | NPS | Spanish military leader; American Revolutionary War | Map |
| Brigadier General Albert Pike Memorial | NPS | Confederate States Army; Civil War | Map |
| Brigadier General Count Casimir Pulaski Memorial | NPS | Continental Army; Revolutionary War | Map |
| Chief Justice John Marshall Statue and Chess Players Statues | WikipediaLocated near the U.S. Supreme Court / federal judiciary area. | U.S. Chief Justice; U.S. Supreme Court | Map |
| Columbus Fountain | NPS | Christopher Columbus; explorer | Map |
| Commodore John Barry Memorial | NPS | U.S. Navy; Revolutionary War | Map |
| Cuban American Friendship Urn | NPS | Cuban-American friendship; Spanish-American War era | Map |
| Daniel Webster Monument | NPS | U.S. Senator; U.S. Congressman; Secretary of State | Map |
| District of Columbia War Memorial | NPS | D.C. residents who served; World War I | Map |
| Doctor Samuel Hahnemann Memorial | NPS | Physician; founder of homeopathy | Map |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial | NPS | U.S. President; U.S. Army; World War II | Map |
| Edmund Burke Statue | Wikipedia | British statesman; political philosopher | Map |
| First Air Mail Marker | Wikipedia Search | U.S. Air Mail; aviation history | Map |
| Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial | NPS | U.S. President; World War II era | Map |
| General George Washington Statue | NPS | U.S. President; Continental Army; Revolutionary War | Map |
| General John A. Logan Memorial | NPS | U.S. Army; Civil War; U.S. Senator | Map |
| General John J. Pershing Memorial | NPS | U.S. Army; World War I | Map |
| General José de San Martín Memorial | NPS | Argentine military leader; South American independence | Map |
| General José Gervasio Artigas Memorial | NPS | Uruguayan military and political leader | Map |
| General Phillip Sheridan Memorial | NPS | U.S. Army; Civil War | Map |
| General Simón Bolívar Memorial | NPS | Military and political leader; South American independence | Map |
| George Gordon Meade Memorial | NPS | U.S. Army; Civil War | Map |
| George Mason Memorial | NPS | Founding Father; Virginia Declaration of Rights | Map |
| Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Memorial | Wikipedia | Poet; literary figure | Map |
| Holodomor Memorial | NPS | Holodomor famine-genocide; victims memorial | Map |
| Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During World War II | NPS | Japanese Americans; World War II; internment | Map |
| John Ericsson Memorial | NPS | Engineer; USS Monitor; Civil War era | Map |
| John Paul Jones Memorial | NPS | Continental Navy; Revolutionary War | Map |
| John Witherspoon Memorial | Wikipedia | Signer of the Declaration of Independence; Continental Congress | Map |
| Korean War Veterans Memorial | NPS | United States in the Korean War; Korean War | Map |
| Lincoln Memorial | NPS | U.S. President; Civil War era | Map |
| Major General George H. Thomas Memorial | NPS | U.S. Army; Civil War | Map |
| Major General James B. McPherson Memorial | NPS | U.S. Army; Civil War | Map |
| Major General John A. Rawlins Memorial | NPS | U.S. Army; Civil War; Secretary of War | Map |
| Major General Winfield Scott Hancock Monument | NPS | U.S. Army; Civil War | Map |
| Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial | NPS | Martin Luther King, Jr.; Civil Rights Movement | Map |
| Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Memorial | WikipediaNon-NPS; located near the Embassy of India. | Indian independence leader; civil resistance | Map |
| National Grange Marker | Wikipedia | National Grange; agricultural / civic organization | Map |
| National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial | WikipediaNon-NPS; maintained by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. | U.S. law enforcement; officers killed in the line of duty | Map |
| National World War I Memorial / Pershing Park | NPS | United States in World War I; U.S. service members | Map |
| Nuns of the Battlefield Memorial | NPS | Catholic nuns who cared for wounded soldiers; Civil War | Map |
| Peace Monument | WikipediaManaged by the Architect of the Capitol. | U.S. Navy; naval deaths at sea; Civil War | Map |
| Samuel Gompers Memorial | NPS | Samuel Gompers; American Federation of Labor | Map |
| Stephenson Memorial / Grand Army of the Republic Memorial | NPS | Grand Army of the Republic; Union veterans; Civil War | Map |
| Taras Shevchenko Memorial | NPS | Taras Shevchenko; Ukrainian poet / national figure | Map |
| Thomas Jefferson Memorial | NPS | U.S. President; Founding Father | Map |
| Titanic Memorial | NPS | RMS Titanic; disaster victims memorial | Map |
| Ulysses S. Grant Memorial | WikipediaManaged by the Architect of the Capitol. | U.S. President; U.S. Army; Civil War | Map |
| U.S. Navy Memorial | NPS | WikipediaOperated by the United States Navy Memorial Foundation. | U.S. Navy; U.S. sea services; all eras | Map |
| Victims of Communism Memorial | WikipediaMaintained by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. | Victims of communist regimes | Map |
| Vietnam Veterans Memorial | NPS | United States in the Vietnam War; Vietnam War | Map |
| Washington Monument | NPS | U.S. President; Continental Army; Revolutionary War | Map |
| Women’s Suffrage National Monument | Wikipedia | Women’s suffrage in the United States; voting rights movement | Map |
| World War II Memorial | NPS | United States in World War II; U.S. service members and home front | Map |
Parks, Historic Sites, Gardens & Other Locations
| Name | Info Link | Type / Notes | Map |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument | NPS | Women’s suffrage in the United States; women’s rights history | Map |
| Benjamin Banneker Park | NPS | Benjamin Banneker; surveyor, almanac author, and scientist | Map |
| Constitution Gardens | NPS | Constitution Gardens; park / landscaped gardens | Map |
| Discobolus / Discus Thrower | Wikipedia | Classical sculpture; public art | Map |
| East Potomac Park / Hains Point | NPS | East Potomac Park; recreation area | Map |
| Floral Library on the National Mall | NPS | National Mall; garden / floral display area | Map |
| Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site | NPS | Ford’s Theatre; Abraham Lincoln; Lincoln assassination | Map |
| German American Friendship Garden | NPS | German-American friendship; garden | Map |
| Japanese Lantern | NPS | Japanese-American friendship; historic lantern | Map |
| Japanese Pagoda | NPS | Japanese-American friendship; historic pagoda | Map |
| Lockkeeper’s House | NPS | Canal history; historic structure | Map |
| Logan Circle | NPS | General John A. Logan; U.S. Army; U.S. Senator; Civil War | Map |
| National Mall | NPS | National Mall; national civic space | Map |
| Old Post Office Tower | NPS | Old Post Office; historic tower / observation site | Map |
| Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site | NPS | Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site; ceremonial avenue | Map |
| Tidal Basin | NPS | Tidal Basin; waterfront landscape / cherry blossom area | Map |
Fun fact: Washington, D.C. has a heavy concentration of Civil War statuary. One summary notes that D.C.’s Civil War monuments include Union generals, Union admirals, and Albert Pike, who was depicted in civilian/Masonic dress rather than as a Confederate general.