You’ve seen the photos. The Lincoln, the towering Washington Monument, the Vietnam Wall. Most people think the National Mall is a finished museum, a static snapshot of history frozen in marble.
They're wrong.
Washington DC is currently undergoing its biggest commemorative facelift in decades. If you haven't visited in the last year or so, you're basically looking at an outdated map. Between the long-awaited completion of the National World War I Memorial and the massive "undercroft" construction under Lincoln’s feet, the city is shifting.
Kinda feels like the capital is finally filling in the blanks. For over a century, the "Great War" was the "Forgotten War" on the Mall. No longer.
The National World War I Memorial is Finally Whole
For a few years, if you walked into Pershing Park, you saw a flag, some water, and a lot of empty space. It felt... incomplete. Because it was.
That changed in late 2024 when the final, massive piece of the puzzle arrived. We’re talking about "A Soldier’s Journey," a 58-foot-long bronze sculpture that is, frankly, breathtaking. Sabin Howard, the sculptor, spent years on this. It isn't just a wall of names. It’s a literal narrative in bronze.
You follow a single soldier—the "Everyman"—as he leaves his family, enters the meat grinder of the Western Front, loses comrades, and eventually comes home. It’s gritty. It’s visceral. It doesn’t sugarcoat the trauma.
The memorial sits at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Most tourists walk right past it on their way to the White House without realizing they’re missing the most significant new monument in Washington DC.
Honestly, the scale of the sculpture is what gets you. It features 38 separate figures. When you stand in front of it, the bronze figures are basically life-sized, making the sacrifice of those 4.7 million Americans who served feel a lot more personal than a textbook ever could.
The Secret Museum Under Lincoln's Feet
While the WWI site is the "new" kid on the block, the most exciting project right now is actually hidden underground.
If you’ve visited the Lincoln Memorial lately, you’ve probably seen the construction fences. The National Park Service is currently gutting the "undercroft." That’s the massive forest of concrete pillars that holds up Old Abe.
By the time the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence hits in 2026, this 15,000-square-foot cavern will be a high-tech museum.
- Immersion: Floor-to-ceiling glass walls will let you see the original 1914 foundations.
- Media: They’re planning to project historic footage—think MLK’s "I Have a Dream" speech—directly onto the stone pillars.
- Accessibility: New elevators and improved exhibits will make the memorial way more inclusive than the cramped little room they used to have off to the side.
It's a weirdly cool contrast. You have the neoclassical temple above and this raw, industrial-looking cathedral of pillars below.
What’s Coming Next? The Desert Storm and GWOT Memorials
The dust isn't settling anytime soon.
Ground has already been broken for the National Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial. You’ll find this one near the corner of 23rd Street and Constitution Avenue, just a stone's throw from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Design-wise, it’s going to be a curved, sweeping wall that mimics the "left hook" maneuver used during the war. It’s meant to feel like a protective embrace. The veterans of that conflict have waited over 30 years for this.
Then there’s the Global War on Terrorism Memorial.
This one is still in the heavy design and approval phase—a 24-step process that is notoriously slow. But the location is set. It’s going to be in the "Reserve" area of the National Mall. That is prime real estate. Usually, the "Reserve" is off-limits for new builds, but Congress made a rare exception because, well, the war has lasted over two decades.
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Expect to see the design unveiled in early 2026. It’s a complicated project because, unlike WWI or WWII, this conflict is technically still evolving. How do you memorialize a war that doesn't have a clean end date? That’s the debate currently happening in the halls of the Commission of Fine Arts.
Why 2026 is the Year to Visit
Basically, the city is sprinting toward the "America 250" celebration.
There's talk of a new monument project nicknamed the "Arc de Trump," a grand commemorative arch proposed for the entrance of the Arlington Memorial Bridge. While it’s sparked plenty of debate on social media, it highlights a larger trend: the capital is in a "building" mood.
It’s not just about statues. The Smithsonian Castle is getting a massive overhaul. The Air and Space Museum is halfway through its own rebirth.
If you're planning a trip, don't just stick to the "Big Three" (Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson). You'll miss the soul of the modern Mall.
Pro-Tip for Your Visit:
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- Start at Pershing Park: Check out the WWI sculpture in the morning light; the shadows on the bronze are incredible.
- Use the QR Codes: The WWI site has "Information Poppies"—digital codes that trigger augmented reality experiences on your phone.
- Check Construction Alerts: Before you head to the Lincoln or the WWII Memorial (which is currently getting fountain upgrades), check the NPS "Alerts" page. Nothing ruins a photo like a bright orange plastic fence.
DC is changing. It's louder, more crowded with construction, and a bit messier than usual. But that's because the American story is still being written into the landscape.
When you stand in front of a new monument in Washington DC, you aren't just looking at history. You're looking at how we choose to remember it today.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Download the NPS App: It has updated walking tours for the newer sites that aren't in the old paper brochures.
- Book Lincoln Tours Early: Once the Undercroft opens in 2026, those tickets are going to be the hardest get in town.
- Visit at Night: The lighting design for the new WWI sculpture was specifically built to be seen after dark—it looks entirely different than it does at noon.