Find the Oldest World War 1 Memorial Hidden in Washington

Washington State has some weird and interesting locations, but this has to be one of the coolest. Did you know that the oldest World War 1 memorial is hidden in the center of Washington State? Did you know that it is also one of at least twelve replicas of the famous English site of Stonehenge?

The memorial/replica is located in Maryhill Washington on top of a huge hill looking over the valley. The first time I found the memorial, I was driving back to the Tri-Cities after shopping at an outlet mall outside of Portland. I looked up the hill and could not believe what I saw, a huge Stonehenge up on the hill. Immediately I found a bridge across the river and wove my way up multiple roads until we came upon the monument. I had lived in Washington State my whole life but had no idea what it was.

Turns out the monument was built a long time ago by a rich business man named Sam Hill in 1918 as a World War 1 memorial. He had originally bought 7,000 acres of the land for Quaker farmers to move there, but they didn't. After visiting the original Stonehenge in 1915, he decided to build the memorial on his land to remember that "humanity is still being sacrificed to the god of war" according to roadsideamerica.com. Sam decided to build the memorial how he thought Stonehenge looked when it was newly built by the Druids. He used the exact dimensions from the original but used reinforced concrete instead of solid stone.

The memorial was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021 and still attracts lots of visitors from all over the world. I am not sure if they visit on purpose, or if they just spotted it from across the river on the highway and had to find out what it was.

If you need directions: Take I-84 exit 104 in Oregon. Cross the river into Washington on Hwy 97 and drive 2.5 miles until it dead-ends at Lewis and Clark Hwy/Hwy 14. Turn right, drive one mile, then turn right onto Stonehenge Drive. Drive three-quarters of a mile; Stonehenge on right. For more questions, the phone number is 509-773-3733