Navy Yard Neighborhood

The Yard owned one of the earliest steam engines in the United States, making it a technology leader. The engine ran the saw mill and was used to manufacture anchors, chain, and steam engines for war vessels.

During the Civil War, the Yard once again became an important part of the defense of Washington. Commandant Franklin Buchanan resigned his commission to join the Confederacy, leaving the Yard to Commander John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren, a United States Navy officer. Dahlgren founded his service’s Ordnance Department and launched major advances in gunnery, including that of the smoothbore howitzer. President Abraham Lincoln frequently sought council with Dahlgren during his tenure and the two men remained in contact throughout Lincoln’s presidency. The famous ironclad USS Monitor was repaired at the Yard after her historic battle with the CSS Virginia. The Lincoln assassination conspirators were brought to the Yard following their capture. The body of John Wilkes Booth was examined and identified on the monitor USS Montauk, moored at the Yard.

Following the Civil War, the Yard continued to be the scene of technological advances. In 1886, the Yard was designated the manufacturing center for all Navy ordnance. Commander Theodore F. Jewell was Superintendent of the Naval Gun Factory from January 1893 to February 1896. Ordnance production continued as the Yard manufactured armament for the Great White Fleet and the World War I navy. The 14-inch naval railway guns used in France during World War I were manufactured at the Yard. In WWII the Washington Navy Yard & Naval Gun Factory employed women in large numbers for trade and craft jobs for the first time. By this time, the Yard was the largest naval ordnance plant in the world. The weapons designed and built there were used in every war in which the United States fought until the 1960s. At its peak, the Yard consisted of 188 buildings on 126 acres of land and employed nearly 25,000 people. In December 1945, the Yard was renamed the U.S. Naval Gun Factory. Ordnance work continued for some years after World War II until finally phased out in 1961. Three years later, on July 1, 1964, the activity was re-designated the Washington Navy Yard. The deserted factory buildings began to be converted to office use. In 1963, ownership of 55 acres of the Washington Navy Yard Annex was transferred to the General Services Administration (GSA). The Yards at the Southeast Federal Center are part of this former property and now include the headquarters for the Department of Transportation. The Washington Navy Yard was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and designated a National Historic Landmark on May 11, 1976. It is part of the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District and the Navy Yard neighborhood.