[18] Enough funds were raised to commission a life-size bronze statue of Washington in full Masonic regalia from the famous sculptor, Hiram Powers who was living in Rome, Italy.

Little was accomplished in the organization's first few years of life, but in February 1908 the WMAA purchased an option to buy a 50-acre (20 ha) tract of land on and around Shooter's Hill and the nearby Alexandria Golf Course.

[22] Most of the land immediately on either side of King Street was subdivided into housing tracts and sold, with 25 acres (10 ha) on top of Shooter's Hill reserved for a memorial.

[34][35] President Taft, Representative Champ Clark, Secretary of War Jacob M. Dickinson, and Virginia Governor William Hodges Mann all spoke at the February 22 meeting.

[36] The George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association (GWMNMA) was formed at this meeting, and plans were adopted to raise $500,000 to go toward the cost of construction and another $500,000 for an endowment and maintenance fund.

Nearly everyone involved in the project in its early years agreed the memorial temple had to be built in Alexandria due to Washington's extensive ties to that city.

[43][44][45] Under the terms of the conveyance of the deed, the Masons were required to build a memorial temple (costing no less than $100,000) to George Washington at the top of the hill within 10 years or they would be forced to turn over the land to the city of Alexandria.

[54] The second story, now 45 by 60 feet (14 by 18 m) in size with a high ceiling and extensive windows (to let in large amounts of natural light), was still slated to house the Washington museum.

An initial test borehole into Shooter's Hill (which reached a depth of 200 feet (61 m)) found no bedrock, leading to concerns that the site might not be a suitable location for the building.

[74] An estimated 14,000 Masons, dignitaries, United States armed forces personnel, police, and others marched in a parade from the Alexandria waterfront to Shooter's Hill to kick off the event.

[75] Among the dignitaries present at the 1:00 p.m. cornerstone-laying event were President Calvin Coolidge, now-Chief Justice of the United States William Howard Taft, Virginia Governor Elbert Lee Trinkle, and Alexandria Mayor Smoot.

This was because construction stopped every winter to ensure that the memorial remained free of moisture, frost damage, and the effects of cooling (to improve the fit between stones).

The arch had two cross-members (each consisting of five stones weighing a total of 70 short tons (64 t)) supported by four 3 inches (7.6 cm) wide, 50 feet (15 m) long steel rods placed in shallow grooves on the underside.

[53] Eight pink Conway granite columns—each 40 feet (12 m) high and weighing 68 short tons (62 t)[64][79]—for the portico were raised into position in October 1926, nearly completing this portion of the structure.

[87] Also nearing completion was a massive bas-relief sculpture of Washington's head in profile, designed by sculptor Gail Sherman Corbett (wife of architect Harvey W.

[100] But the structure was not ready in time, as many of the interior details had not yet been agreed on or installed,[56] electrical and plumbing work had not yet reached the third floor, and the George Washington National Bicentennial Commission had already scheduled numerous programs for February.

Additional landscaping had to be done in order to reduce the fire danger in the area, walls had to be erected around the land to prevent the public from cutting across the property and roads had to be re-graveled and maintained.

[3] Four large lighting sconces were added to the second floor memorial hall in 1938, with the $4,000 cost of their installation paid for by the General Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star.

The Supreme Council, Scottish Rite (Southern Jurisdiction, USA) donated $100,000 to finish the north lodge room on the second floor and dedicate it to Cryptic Masonry.

[128] The Order of DeMolay, the young men's affiliate of Freemasonry, had won the association's approval for a campaign to raise money for a bronze statue of George Washington back in 1934.

[130] The same year, muralist painter Allyn Cox was hired to paint murals throughout the memorial depicting allegorical Masonic events from history as well as scenes from the life of George Washington.

[147] Cox also designed six stained glass windows for installation above the murals,[147] each depicting a famous Masonic patriot (such as Benjamin Franklin and Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette).

[165] In 1959, a large bronze bust of Washington by sculptor Donald De Lue (commissioned by the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, and originally destined for their headquarters) was donated to the museum.

[147] In the corners of the Memorial Hall are four 8-foot (2.4 m) high bronze lamps, donated by the Order of the Eastern Star (a Masonic social organization composed primarily of women).

[184] The fourth floor contains the George Washington Museum, which is maintained with funding from the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite of the Southern and Northern Jurisdictions of the United States.

[188] The financial crisis was avoided when several Grand Lodges adopted a per capita assessment on their members to keep the memorial afloat, and the GWMNMA began a series of fundraisers and the sale of gifts to generate additional income.

Although twin sidewalks used to run directly up the eastern slope of Shooter's Hill toward the memorial's front steps,[80] these were partially replaced by curving cement paths and a large Square and Compasses (the Masonic symbol) in a landscaped setting.

[224] Shooter's Hill had been occupied by Native Americans, a mansion (in the 1830s and 1840s), a log cabin, Fort Ellsworth, a reservoir for the city's fresh water system, a park for outdoor dancing, and the Alexandria Golf Course among many others.

In April 2005, Syed Haris Ahmed, a naturalized American citizen and student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, took videos of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial as well as the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, the headquarters of the World Bank, and other buildings and infrastructure in the D.C.

[230] American law enforcement authorities later learned that Ahmed had shared the video with Younes Tsouli and Aabid Hussein Khan (men later convicted of terrorism-related crimes in the United Kingdom).