A hidden museum underneath the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, is now open to visitors after sitting empty for over 100 years.
The famous statue of former President Abraham Lincoln has been sitting atop the memorial’s undercroft which is now a 15,000-square-foot museum, Fox News reported Wednesday.
“The project, backed by $26 million in federal funds and $48 million from the National Park Foundation, has been 10 years in the making, with construction officially beginning in 2023, according to Julie Moore, vice president of communications with the Trust for the National Mall,” the report said.
Visitors will enjoy interactive physical displays and multimedia video presentations along with the chance to view precious American treasures including original copies of the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment with Lincoln’s signature, and graffiti left behind by workers in the 1920s.
“Opening to the general public for the first time on June 25, 2026, the Lincoln Memorial undercroft invites visitors into a dramatic, previously unseen space beneath one of America’s most iconic monuments. This new 15,000‑square‑foot exhibit area reveals the massive concrete foundations that support the memorial and shares the story of how the Lincoln Memorial was built and how its meaning has evolved over the last century,” the National Park Service’s (NPS) website read.
Video footage showed the inside of the undercroft:
The news comes as President Donald Trump has taken significant steps to revitalize the nation’s capital ahead of America’s 250th birthday, efforts that have pleased both Republicans and Democrats alike, according to Breitbart News.
Following Lincoln’s tragic assassination in 1865, Congress launched plans for a national memorial to honor his leadership and legacy, per the NPS:
Workers began construction on February 12, 1914. Because the memorial sits on filled land, engineers designed a very strong foundation. Workers poured 122 concrete piers anchored deep into bedrock. They built a second layer of piers and concrete arches to form the base floor. Then they added marble on top of the substructure.
Workers finished the foundation in 1915 and continued building the main structure. During World War I, shortages of workers and materials slowed progress, but crews kept the project moving. In 1918, designers doubled the size of the planned Lincoln statue so it would not look too small inside the large chamber. Crews added steel supports under the floor to hold the extra weight.
The NPS said architect Henry Bacon used building materials from Massachusetts, Colorado, Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia “to show how the reunited nation could work together.”
WASHINGTON, DC — JUNE 18: Dr. Kevin Griess, the superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, sits in a seat resembling President Abraham Lincoln’s armchair at the Lincoln Memorial Undercroft museum in Washington, D.C., June 18, 2026. The National Park Service unveiled the Undercroft ahead of its opening to the public on June 25. (Photo by Tyler M. Andrews/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“Inside the memorial, artists painted murals and carved Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural Address into the walls,” the service’s website continued:
Leaders including presidents Taft, Harding, and Coolidge, as well as Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert, dedicated the Lincoln Memorial on May 30, 1922. Crews had completed most of the work by that date, and they finished the Reflecting Pool and interior lighting soon afterward. Today, the memorial stands as a symbol of unity, strength, and the nation’s ongoing effort to live up to the ideals Lincoln expressed in his speeches.
Video footage of the 1922 dedication ceremony showed crowds gathered before the memorial steps as an airplane flew overhead:
According to the NPS website regarding the newly opened undercroft, “Timed entry tickets are required to visit the undercroft. Tickets are free, with a small service fee for advance reservations.”
