Tallest buildings in D.C.
Washington, D.C. may not have the highest buildings in the world, but it does have some of the most fashionable. If you’re in the mood for some photo-ops, or just want to get a glimpse of the district’s history, check in at these stops.
- 1090 Vermont Avenue (an office building designed by the John Akridge Companies, finished 1980) and the Renaissance Washington DC Hotel (a residential hotel designed by the Smith-Williams Group, built 1986) are tied at 187 ft (57 m).
- Healy Hall (the flagship building of Georgetown University, built 1879) and 700 Eleventh Street (a high-rise built in 1992) are tied at 200 ft (61 m).
- One Franklin Square (designed by Hartman-Cox Architects and The Dewberry Companies, built 1989) is the tallest commercial building in D.C. at 210 ft (64 m).
- The United States Capitol (Congress’s meeting place, started 1793, expanded 1850s) is 289 ft (88 m).
- Washington National Cathedral (the second-largest church in America, founded 1907) stands tall at 301 feet (92 m).
- The Old Post Office Pavilion (a U.S. federal government site now used for office space, built between 1892 and 1899) is the second-tallest inhabitable building at 315 ft (96 m).
- Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception has been the tallest building in Washington, D.C. since its construction in 1959. It stands at 329 ft (100 m) and has 32 stories.
- Washington Monument (constructed between 1848 and 1884) was the tallest structure in America until 1939, when the San Jacinto Monument was built. The monument is 555 ft (169 m) tall, but only has 3 inhabitable floors.