Watch 360-degree video underneath the Lincoln Memorial
Apr 7, 2018, 4:10 AM
If you’ve never visited the Lincoln Memorial, here’s your chance.
NBC Nightly News published a 360-degree video showing the underground of the monument, called the undercroft.
Mike Litterst, the National Park Service Chief of Communications, takes you through a tour that would normally cost Arizonans a plane ticket and a weekend.
The National Park Service is planning to open an area two stories beneath the memorial. In the video, Litterst says that before the monument was built, the area was reclaimed swampland.
“Architects and the engineers were required to go deep underground to reach bedrock to put in the 122 concrete pillars,” he said.
Viewers can see just how deep it is by using the arrow keys on the top left corner of the video. It allows you to go up, down, left and right as you listen to Litterst narrate.
The new exhibit will feature history of the memorial and the men who helped fund and construct it. It’s expected to be open in 2020.
Look closely at the pillars, Litterst says – there are charcoal drawings, apparently from workers who were trying to pass the time.
“They couldn’t possibly have imagined that a century later, we would still fascinated by their drawings as they tell us not only a little bit about the men who worked on the memorial, but also give us a glimpse into early 20th Century American life,” Litterst said.
