Arrangement of state names on the Lincoln Memorial.
Version of 31 August 2008.
Dave Barber's other pages.

Introduction. The Lincoln Memorial in the District of Columbia is among the most popular national historical sites in the United States. Carved into the stone exterior of the building are the names of all the states of the Union at the time of construction; this page charts at what locations on the Memorial their names are placed.

The structure is bounded by a colonnade. An entablature atop the 36 columns contains a frieze with the names of the 36 states that joined the Union before the end of the Civil War. Included are the states that seceded during that conflict, all of which ultimately returned.

Walls within the colonnade rise above the entablature forming an attic. Along the top of the attic walls are carved the names of the 48 states that were members of the Union when the memorial was completed in 1922. Hence many states appear twice.

Below each state name appears a Roman numeral. For the 13 original states, the numeral stands for the year that the state ratified the United States Constitution. For the next 35, the numeral denotes the year that the state entered the Union. A famous error involves the 17th state, Ohio, which entered the Union in 1803. For an unknown reason, the Memorial gives the year as 1802.

Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the Union decades after the structure was built, and there was no room left to carve their names with the others, so these final two states are recognized with a plaque.


Source material. The United States Library of Congress has made available a set of 28 architectural drawings of the Lincoln Memorial. The present report relies upon four elevations from that collection:

The renderings are dated 1993, well after completion of the structure, so apparently they were prepared as a historical documentation project. For convenience a detail drawing, containing state names and little more, has been extracted from each elevation:

The best-known image of the memorial is that on the reverse of the United States five-dollar bill as printed since 1928; this drawing is a perspective rather than an elevation. A detail from that bill reveals the arrangement of states on the east face of the building. Because of the limited resolution of the printing process, the Roman numerals have been omitted from the currency, as well as the first words of South Carolina and New Hampshire. A portrait of Lincoln himself appears on the obverse.


Tables. The following charts show, in different ways, where each state name appears on the Lincoln Memorial.

Chart one
by position
  East Face
(front)
North Face
(right)
West Face
(back)
South Face
(left)
Upper Row
(attic)
 1 Arkansas
 2 Michigan
 3 Florida
 4 Texas
 5 Iowa
 6 Wisconsin
 7 California
 8 Minnesota
 9 Oregon
10 Kansas
11 West Virginia
12 Nevada
13 Nebraska
14 Colorado
15 North Dakota
 1 South Dakota
 2 Montana
 3 Washington
 4 Idaho
 5 Wyoming
 6 Utah
 7 Oklahoma
 8 New Mexico
 9 Arizona
 1 Delaware
 2 Pennsylvania
 3 New Jersey
 4 Georgia
 5 Connecticut
 6 Massachusetts
 7 Maryland
 8 South Carolina
 9 New Hampshire
10 Virginia
11 New York
12 North Carolina
13 Rhode Island
14 Vermont
15 Kentucky
 1 Tennessee
 2 Ohio
 3 Louisiana
 4 Indiana
 5 Mississippi
 6 Illinois
 7 Alabama
 8 Maine
 9 Missouri
Lower Row
(frieze)
 1 Delaware
 2 Pennsylvania
 3 New Jersey
 4 Georgia
 5 Connecticut
 6 Massachusetts
 7 Maryland
 8 South Carolina
 9 New Hampshire
10 Virginia
11 New York
 1 North Carolina
 2 Rhode Island
 3 Vermont
 4 Kentucky
 5 Tennessee
 6 Ohio
 7 Louisiana
 1 Indiana
 2 Mississippi
 3 Illinois
 4 Alabama
 5 Maine
 6 Missouri
 7 Arkansas
 8 Michigan
 9 Florida
10 Texas
11 Iowa
 1 Wisconsin
 2 California
 3 Minnesota
 4 Oregon
 5 Kansas
 6 West Virginia
 7 Nevada

Chart two
by date
  Name Roman Date  
Upper West  1DelawareMDCCLXXXVII7 Dec 1787 1 Lower East
 2PennsylvaniaMDCCLXXXVII12 Dec 1787 2
 3New JerseyMDCCLXXXVII18 Dec 1787 3
 4GeorgiaMDCCLXXXVIII2 Jan 1788 4
 5ConnecticutMDCCLXXXVIII9 Jan 1788 5
 6MassachusettsMDCCLXXXVIII6 Feb 1788 6
 7MarylandMDCCLXXXVIII28 Apr 1788 7
 8South CarolinaMDCCLXXXVIII23 May 1788 8
 9New HampshireMDCCLXXXVIII21 Jun 1788 9
10VirginiaMDCCLXXXVIII25 Jun 178810
11New YorkMDCCLXXXVIII26 Jul 178811
12North CarolinaMDCCLXXXIX21 Nov 1789 1 Lower North
13Rhode IslandMDCCXC29 May 1790 2
14VermontMDCCXCI4 Mar 1791 3
15KentuckyMDCCXCII1 Jun 1792 4
Upper South  1TennesseeMDCCXCVI1 Jun 1796 5
 2OhioMDCCCII
(erroneous)
1 Mar 1803 6
 3LouisianaMDCCCXII30 Apr 1812 7
 4IndianaMDCCCXVI11 Dec 1816 1 Lower West
 5MississippiMDCCCXVII10 Dec 1817 2
 6IllinoisMDCCCXVIII3 Dec 1818 3
 7AlabamaMDCCCXIX14 Dec 1819 4
 8MaineMDCCCXX15 Mar 1820 5
 9MissouriMDCCCXXI10 Aug 1821 6
Upper East  1ArkansasMDCCCXXXVI15 Jun 1836 7
 2MichiganMDCCCXXXVII26 Jan 1837 8
 3FloridaMDCCCXLV3 Mar 1845 9
 4TexasMDCCCXLV29 Dec 184510
 5IowaMDCCCXLVI28 Dec 184611
 6WisconsinMDCCCXLVIII29 May 1848 1 Lower North
 7CaliforniaMDCCCL9 Sep 1850 2
 8MinnesotaMDCCCLVIII11 May 1858 3
 9OregonMDCCCLIX14 Feb 1859 4
10KansasMDCCCLXI29 Jan 1861 5
11West VirginiaMDCCCLXIII20 Jun 1863 6
12NevadaMDCCCLXIV31 Oct 1864 7
13NebraskaMDCCCLXVII1 Mar 1867 omitted
14ColoradoMDCCCLXXVI1 Aug 1876
15North DakotaMDCCCLXXXIX2 Nov 1889
Upper North  1South DakotaMDCCCLXXXIX2 Nov 1889
 2MontanaMDCCCLXXXIX8 Nov 1889
 3WashingtonMDCCCLXXXIX11 Nov 1889
 4IdahoMDCCCXC3 Jul 1890
 5WyomingMDCCCXC10 Jul 1890
 6UtahMDCCCXCVI4 Jan 1896
 7OklahomaMCMVII16 Nov 1907
 8New MexicoMCMXII6 Jan 1912
 9ArizonaMCMXII14 Feb 1912
omitted AlaskaMCMLIX3 Jan 1959
HawaiiMCMLIX21 Aug 1959

Chart three
by name
NameUpperLower   NameUpperLower
AlabamaSouth 7West 4MontanaNorth 2
AlaskaNebraskaEast 13
ArizonaNorth 9NevadaEast 12South 7
ArkansasEast 1West 7New HampshireWest 9East 9
CaliforniaEast 7South 2New JerseyWest 3East 3
ColoradoEast 14New MexicoNorth 8
ConnecticutWest 5East 5New YorkWest 11East 11
DelawareWest 1East 1North CarolinaWest 12North 1
FloridaEast 3West 9North DakotaEast 15
GeorgiaWest 4East 4OhioSouth 2North 6
HawaiiOklahomaNorth 7
IdahoNorth 4OregonEast 9South 4
IllinoisSouth 6West 3PennsylvaniaWest 2East 2
IndianaSouth 4West 1Rhode IslandWest 13North 2
IowaEast 5West 11South CarolinaWest 8East 8
KansasEast 10South 5South DakotaNorth 1
KentuckyWest 15North 4TennesseeSouth 1North 5
LouisianaSouth 3North 7TexasEast 4West 10
MaineSouth 8West 5UtahNorth 6
MarylandWest 7East 7VermontWest 14North 3
MassachusettsWest 6East 6VirginiaWest 10East 10
MichiganEast 2West 8WashingtonNorth 3
MinnesotaEast 8South 3West VirginiaEast 11South 6
MississippiSouth 5West 2WisconsinEast 6South 1
MissouriSouth 9West 6WyomingNorth 5