John Ericsson Memorial — Attraction in Washington

A lesser-known memorial on the National Mall is the John Ericsson Memorial along the Potomac River near the Lincoln Memorial in honor of the Swedish-American inventor/engineer who designed the USS Monitor, the ship that ensured Union naval dominance during the Civil War. It was dedicated in 1926 by President Calvin Coolidge and Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden. The entire memorial cost only $60,000 and is made from pink granite. It's a statue of John Ericsson with three figures representing adventure, labor, and vision. There's a crosswalk and steps that take you to get a...

This monument and memorial is hidden in the highway, and is overshadowed by the more famous memorials. But John Ericsson was impressive as a Swedish born American who invented the ship propeller, armored turret warships, steam locomotives and more. Definitely worth the stop if you’re waking through the...

The memorial serves mostly as a traffic circle and it's actually very hard to get to on foot as there are no crosswalks to it, despite the fact that there are steps leading to the street. But once you get over to the island, you can walk around it...