It’s long been known that anyone can browse the Library of Congress’s digitized archives online from anywhere in the world—but now virtual tourists can access the Washington Monument observation deck’s spectacular views from the comfort of their own couch.
EarthCam, a live-streaming video and time-lapse camera provider, has partnered with the National Park Service to place a camera in a preexisting hole in the monument’s pyramidion. The all-weather HD camera system is encased in a tube of aerospace polymer material and is promised to have no impact on the monument.
You can check out the camera’s feed from the EarthCam website. As a bonus, through October 31, you’ll be able to spot a 10-by-6-acre face that stretches between the Lincoln and the World War II memorials. “Out of Many, One,” a landscape portrait by Cuban American artist Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada, was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery and constructed out of 800 tons of soil and 2,000 tons of sand.
The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association also played a role in the camera’s installation, eager to help publicize of Rodríguez-Gerada’s work and the use of sand and stone in its creation.
The Washington Monument isn’t the first in the District to claim an EarthCam—viewers can also take a look at the feed from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.
Check out a time-lapse video filmed at the top of the Washington Monument.
Caroline Cunningham joined Washingtonian in 2014 after moving to the DC area from Cincinnati, where she interned and freelanced for Cincinnati Magazine and worked in content marketing. She currently resides in College Park.
