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Old Naval Observatory

Coordinates: 38°53′42″N 77°03′05″W / 38.895103°N 77.051443°W / 38.895103; -77.051443
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Old Naval Observatory
Old Naval Observatory is located in Central Washington, D.C.
Old Naval Observatory
Old Naval Observatory is located in the District of Columbia
Old Naval Observatory
Old Naval Observatory is located in the United States
Old Naval Observatory
Location23rd Street and E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.
Coordinates38°53′42″N 77°03′05″W / 38.895103°N 77.051443°W / 38.895103; -77.051443
Built1844 (1844)
ArchitectJames Gilliss
NRHP reference No.66000864
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966[1]
Designated NHLJanuary 12, 1965[2]

The Old Naval Observatory is a historic site at 23rd and E Street in Northwest, Washington, D.C.. It is where the United States Naval Observatory was located from 1844 to 1893, when it moved to its present grounds. The original observatory building, built 1839-40, still stands, and is a designated National Historic Landmark.[2] The Washington meridian of 1850 passes through the Observatory. The property for many years housed the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, which moved out in 2012. The property has been taken over by the State Department.

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.[2][3]

History

Observatory

The observatory operated from 1844 to 1893 when it was closed in favor of a new U.S. Naval Observatory facility on Massachusetts Avenue.[4] The Moons of Mars were discovered from this site in 1877.

The building and grounds were retained by the U.S. Navy, which first used it to house the Naval Museum of Hygiene from 1894 to 1902.

The campus in 1936, looking east. The NIH buildings are along the bottom, the Naval Hospital is at center, and the old observatory is at top left.

Beginning in 1903, the Naval Medical Hospital was constructed on the grounds, and it remained in use until 1942, when hospital operations were transferred to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.[4]

The U.S. Public Health Service Hygienic Laboratory, later the National Institutes of Health, moved to the campus in 1904 from the Marine Hospital in Stapleton, Staten Island. Five buildings would be built: the North Building in 1904, an animal house in 1915, the Central Building in 1919, and the Administration and South Buildings in 1934. In 1938, NIH moved to a new campus in Bethesda, Maryland.[5]

The facility housed the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery from 1942 until 2012.[5][6] The Office of Strategic Services and its successor the Central Intelligence Agency were located on the campus from WWII until 1961.[5]

In 1963, multiple buildings were demolished to construct the E Street Expressway.[5]

Department of State

The grounds and observatory are closed to the public. The entire Navy Hill is being transferred to the United States Department of State due to Base Realignment and Closure, and the Navy will be moving out. The Central Intelligence Agency's forerunner, the Office of Strategic Services was a tenant on the Hill during World War II, and the United States Public Health Service had a hospital there.

In 2014, the Department of State began expanding into the Navy Hill. A joint venture consisting of the architectural firms of Goody, Clancy and the Louis Berger Group won a $2.5 million contract in January 2014 to begin planning the renovation of the buildings on the 11.8-acre (4.8 ha) Navy Hill campus.[7]

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c "Old Naval Observatory". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
  3. ^ Blanche H. Schroer and Steven H. Lewis (March 3, 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Old Naval Observatory". National Park Service. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying nine photos, exterior and interior, from 1873, 1975, and undated
  4. ^ a b Inci A. Bowman (September 13, 2006). "Historic Medical Sites in the Washington, DC Area". National Library of Medicine. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ a b c d Harden, Victoria A.; Lyons, Michele (2018-02-27). "NIH's Early Homes". The NIH Catalyst. Retrieved 2020-09-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ Pilip-Florea, Shonona. "Navy Medicine Headquarters Moves to Falls Church, Va." America's Navy May 30, 2012 Accessed 2014-05-16.
  7. ^ Sernovitz, Daniel J. "Boston Firm Picked for State Department Consolidation." Washington Business Journal. January 14, 2014. Accessed 2014-01-14.
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