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Mount Constitution

Mountain in Washington (state), United States

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Mount Constitution is a mountain on Orcas Island, the highest point in the San Juan Islands and the second highest mountain on an ocean island in the contiguous 48 states. Only Devils Peak in the Channel Islands of California is higher.

01Stone observation tower

A stone observation tower patterned after a medieval watch tower stands 52 feet (16 m) above the summit, which is 2,400 feet (730 m) above sea level.

Designer and builder

It was designed by architect Ellsworth Storey and built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936.

Views

The tower offers panoramic views of the surrounding islands, the Cascade Mountains, the Olympic Mountains, and many Canadian and American cities. On a clear day, the view encompasses locations as diverse as Mount Baker, Mount Rainier, Saturna Island, and the cities of Vancouver, and Victoria, British Columbia.

At the top of Mount Constitution sits a 53-foot sandstone tower, reinforced with 2 tons of steel, and measuring 18 x 28 feet at the base.
At the top of Mount Constitution sits a 53-foot sandstone tower, reinforced with 2 tons of steel, and measuring 18 x 28 feet at the base.

02Location and naming

Mount Constitution lies within the 5,000-acre (20.2 km2) Moran State Park.

The prominence was named by Charles Wilkes during the Wilkes Expedition of 1838-1842 for the USS Constitution.

Watch videos about Mount ConstitutionExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Mount Constitution, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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