The Monument, a colossal landmark column, was designed by American architect Robert Mills (1781–1855), who also designed the later Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Construction began in 1815 on land donated by Colonel John Eager Howard (1752–1827), from his extensive "Belvidere" estate just north of Baltimore Town, and the masonry work was completed by 1829.

Its neighbors and cultural institutions within a few blocks include the Peabody Institute, The Walters Art Museum, the Central Library of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, the Maryland Center for History and Culture with its Enoch Pratt Mansion, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (old Baltimore Cathedral), and the Baltimore School for the Arts (public high school).

The glorification of Washington began long before his death at his Mount Vernon estate, along the Potomac River in Virginia in December 1799.

Mills's design was chosen in 1814, the architect having taken pains to demonstrate to the Board of Managers that he was the first native born American with architectural training.

[1] Mills's competition-winning designs included rich ornamentation, six iron galleries (balconies) dividing the exterior shaft into seven sections with text and images on each level highlighting important moments in Washington's life.

Residents of old Courthouse Square feared the tall column would fall on their houses in the event of some natural disaster, so a new location was found in Howard's Woods, north of the city, on the "Belvidere" estate and with a 200 square feet of surrounding land for future public squares/parks, which was donated by noted leading citizen, American Revolutionary War hero, Col. John Eager Howard, (1752–1827) of the famed "Maryland Line" regiment of the Continental Army.

By the time the Monument's cornerstone was laid in Howard's Woods in 1815, Mills had significantly simplified the original elaborate design as depicted in an account of the Fourth of July ceremony.

Board President and noted citizen, James Buchanan observed that the city of Baltimore had not only "the glory of being the first to erect a monument of gratitude to the father and benefactor of our country," but that it had a "peculiar propriety" in erecting "this first expression of national gratitude," because of its successful defense against the British Army and Royal Navy during the Battle of Baltimore the previous fall.

[2] At the ceremony it was declared that the Monument was to stand as "memorial of the blessings and advantages that our country derived from the character of and conduct of that personage whose name it is to bear, and whose virtues it is to perpetuate."

Construction sites in the early nineteenth century were not what they are today, and during the building period it is clear the Monument was visited inside and out.

While there, the Congress also ratified the Treaty of Paris of 1783, ending the American Revolutionary War and recognizing the independence of the United States by Great Britain.

William Rusk, in his book Art in Baltimore: Monuments and Memorials, tells the following story about the raising of Causici's marble statue of Washington in 1829.

"Tradition recalls a prodigy occurring when the statue was raised to the summit of the monument – a shooting star dashed across the sky and an eagle lit on the head of the settling general."

Mid 19th century maps, for instance, pair the Baltimore column with the Capitol building because the Washington, DC monument had only just begun.

Several months later, a driver ran a 1997 Chrysler van through the southeast corner on October 30, 2010 and damaged roughly 15 feet of the fence.

[12] The contents of both time capsules can be seen on public display at the Maryland Center for History and Culture, located just two blocks from the monument.