06/17/2026
It Was Supposed to Be Shorter Than the Washington Monument
Jesse Jones gave the federal government his word.
When he went to Washington asking for money to build a monument at the San Jacinto battleground, the government agreed to help with the 1.5 million dollar tab under one condition. The monument could not stand taller than the Washington Monument.
Jones agreed. And he kept his word. The tower itself topped out at 552 feet, three feet shorter than Washington's 555.
He just forgot to mention the 15-foot entrance pedestal at the base.
The San Jacinto Monument stands 567 feet tall. It is the tallest monument column in the world, nearly 13 feet taller than the Washington Monument. The next tallest is the Juche Tower in North Korea. Texas didn't set out to beat everybody. Jesse Jones just didn't mention the pedestal.
Construction began on April 21, 1936, exactly one hundred years to the day after the Battle of San Jacinto. The cornerstone was laid exactly one year later, April 21, 1937. It was dedicated exactly two years after that, April 21, 1939. Every major milestone happened on the same date. That was not an accident.
The men who built it were hired as part of a Depression-era program to put the unemployed back to work. All 150 had to come from the local area. Only 35 had ever worked in construction before. The base required a continuous concrete pour of 5,700 cubic yards. Those men worked around the clock for 57 straight hours in eight-hour shifts. While they worked, they consumed 3,800 sandwiches and 5,700 cups of coffee.
The winning construction bid came in at $888,300. That is over 22 million dollars in today's money.
The stone covering the exterior is Texas limestone quarried near Austin, the same stone used on the Texas State Capitol. Geologists call it Whitestone Lentil. It was formed when Texas sat beneath a shallow sea that once stretched from the Gulf of Mexico all the way to the Arctic. The imprints of tiny sea creatures are pressed into every stone on that monument.
At the dedication ceremony on April 21, 1939, one of the men standing at the base was Andrew Jackson Houston, Sam Houston's last surviving son. He stood on the ground where his father had changed everything, and watched Texas honor itself.
The 34-foot Lone Star on top weighs 220 tons. The reflecting pool stretching out in front is 1,750 feet long. On a clear day from the observation deck you can see Houston and the Battleship Texas at the same time.
Jesse Jones promised it would not be taller than the Washington Monument. He just didn't mention the pedestal.
