The Main Navy and Munitions Buildings were constructed in 1918 along

Constitution Avenue Constitution Avenue is a major east–west street in the Northwest, Washington, D.C., northwest and Northeast, Washington, D.C., northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and ...

(then known as B Street) on Washington, D.C.'s

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...

(Potomac Park) as the largest of a set of temporary war buildings on the National Mall. Both buildings were constructed by the Navy's

Bureau of Yards and Docks The Bureau of Yards and Docks (abbrev.: BuDocks) was the branch of the United States Navy responsible from 1842 to 1966 for building and maintaining navy yards, drydocks, and other facilities relating to ship construction, maintenance, and repai ...

, with the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, als ...

occupying the Munitions Building. To make the buildings more resistant to fire, the buildings were constructed using concrete. With solid construction, the temporary buildings remained used long after the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In August 1939, the

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

relocated his offices from the overcrowded State-War-Navy Building (Old Executive Office Building) to the Munitions Building. The Department of War headquarters remained in the Munitions Building through the early years of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

until 1942, when some space became available in the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

, which was under construction. The Munitions Building was turned over to the Navy in 1943 when the Department of War vacated the Munitions Building once construction of the Pentagon was completed. Both buildings suffered severe structural problems in the 1960s. In December 1969, President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

announced that both buildings would be demolished, a plan carried out in 1970. The land was then reclaimed and turned into

Constitution Gardens Constitution Gardens is a park area in Washington, D.C., United States, located within the boundaries of the National Mall. The park is bounded on the west by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, on the east by 17th St NW, on the north by Constituti ...

, with the

Vietnam Veterans Memorial The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, commonly called the Vietnam Memorial, is a U.S. national memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring service members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. The site is dominated by two black granit ...

built near the former Munitions Building site in the early 1980s.

Construction

Constructing the Munitions and Main Navy Buildings was an idea conceived by

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

, then the

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (ASN) is the title given to certain civilian senior officials in the United States Department of the Navy. From 1861 to 1954, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was the second-highest civilian office in the Depart ...

, who put forth the idea to President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

. Roosevelt originally suggested a temporary building be placed on the

Ellipse In mathematics, an ellipse is a plane curve surrounding two focus (geometry), focal points, such that for all points on the curve, the sum of the two distances to the focal points is a constant. It generalizes a circle, which is the special ty ...

, but President Wilson disliked the idea of a building on the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

's front lawn. Thus, Roosevelt suggested placing the buildings on the

(Potomac Park) along B Street (renamed Constitution Avenue in 1931), near the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...

. Roosevelt wanted them to be ugly wooden buildings, so people would want to tear them down immediately after

. However, concrete and steel materials were recommended to make the buildings more fire resistant. Roosevelt later expressed regret for allowing these building to be constructed, saying in 1941, "I didn't think I would ever be let into the Gates of Heaven, because I had been responsible for desecrating the parks of Washington." The project was originally intended for just the Navy, but the Department of War also wanted in on the project; thus, two buildings were proposed. With concrete construction not unreasonably more expensive than a wood frame building,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

accepted the proposal for concrete buildings and approved the funds for the project in March 1918. The task of design and construction of the buildings was given to the Navy's

, and the buildings were completed in 5 months. The primary designer of the buildings was Lieutenant Commander Frederic W. Southworth, chief architect of the Bureau, under the supervision of Commander Archibald L. Parsons.

Munitions Building

The Munitions Building, constructed in 1918, contained of space across three stories and was designed to provide temporary accommodations for 9,000 Department of War employees. During World War I, the War Department had greatly expanded, and by the end of the war, the Main Navy and Munitions Building together housed 14,000 military personnel, including the

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

. A large parking lot wide and long, was located at the rear of the Munitions Building, with space to accommodate approximately 1,000 cars. Various small exhibits were on display in the corridors of the Munitions Buildings, showing military uniforms, types of gas masks, military daily rations, and Army photographs. The Munitions Building was separated from the Main Navy Building by a vehicle entryway at 19th Street. The main entrance of the Munitions Building was located at 20th Street. The Munitions Building had a total of eight wings. At the end of World War I, the Munitions Building housed technical branches, including the Quartermaster General,

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

, Ordnance Corps,

Chemical Warfare Service The Chemical Corps is the branch of the United States Army tasked with defending against and using chemical weapon, chemical, biological agent, biological, radiological weapon, radiological, and nuclear weapon, nuclear (Chemical, biological, r ...

Signal Corps A signal corps is a military branch, responsible for military communications (''signals''). Many countries maintain a signal corps, which is typically subordinate to a country's army. Military communication usually consists of radio, telephone, ...

, and

Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...

. In March 1923, the Army's Finance Office also moved into the Munitions Building. In February 1924, plans were put forth to build an oil steam plant for the Main Navy and Munitions Building. In November 1933, the Army Inspector General's office, along with the Organized Reserves, the welfare section of the Secretary's office, and the Office of Chief of Chaplains moved into the Munitions Building. The

National Guard Bureau The National Guard Bureau (NGB) is the federal agency responsible for the administration of the National Guard established by the United States Congress as a joint bureau of the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. It was c ...

also was housed in the Munitions Building, as was the

Army Industrial College The Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy (Eisenhower School), formerly known as the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF), is a part of the National Defense University. It was renamed on September 6, 20 ...

Headquarters

At the time when the Munitions Building was constructed, the War Department was headquartered in the State-War-Navy Building, which was completed in 1888 and located on 17th Street NW, next to the

. By the 1930s, the War Department was being squeezed out by the

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

, and the White House also needed additional office space. In August 1939, Secretary of War Harry H. Woodring, along with Acting Chief of Staff of the Army

George C. Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (31 December 1880 – 16 October 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army under presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. ...

, moved his office into the Munitions Building. In the late 1930s, a new War Department Building was constructed at 21st and C Streets in

Foggy Bottom Foggy Bottom is a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States, located in the city's northwest quadrant. It stretches west of the White House towards the Potomac River, north of the National Mall, east of Georgetown, south of the West ...

. Still, upon completion, the new building did not solve the department's space problem and ended up being used by the Department of State. To help deal with the space shortage, a fourth story was added to the Main Navy and Munitions Buildings during

. Coming into office, with World War II breaking out in Europe, Secretary of War

Henry L. Stimson Henry Lewis Stimson (September 21, 1867 – October 20, 1950) was an American statesman, lawyer, and Republican Party politician. Over his long career, he emerged as a leading figure in U.S. foreign policy by serving in both Republican and Demo ...

was faced with the situation of the War Department spread out in numerous buildings across Washington, D.C., as well as

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, and the Munitions Building was overcrowded. On 28 July 1941,

authorized funding for a new Department of War building in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

, which would house the entire department under one roof. When office space became available in 1942 at

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

in the first completed wing, the Secretary of War vacated the Munitions Building and moved to the Pentagon. The Department of War vacated the Munitions Building in 1943 once the Pentagon was constructed. The Department of Navy took over the Munitions Building once the Department of War relocated out of the building and placed the Navy's Material Systems Command offices in the Munitions Building.

World War II

The

Signal Intelligence Service The Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) was the United States Army codebreaking division through World War II. It was founded in 1930 to compile codes for the Army. It was renamed the Signal Security Agency in 1943, and in September 1945, became ...

was located in the Munitions Building during the early years of

. In September 1939, the Signal Intelligence Service was able to break Japan's cipher,

Purple Purple is a color similar in appearance to violet light. In the RYB color model historically used in the arts, purple is a secondary color created by combining red and blue pigments. In the CMYK color model used in modern printing, purple is ...

. The Department of War continued to receive intercepted messages, codenamed

Magic Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...

, including final messages to the Japanese Embassy in Washington before the

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

Main Navy

The Navy used the Main Navy building from when it was built until it was demolished in 1970. The building contained of space, nine wings, and was connected to the Munitions Building by an elevated covered walkway. Navy offices housed in the Main Navy building soon after it opened included the

Bureau of Ships The United States Navy's Bureau of Ships (BuShips) was established by Congress on 20 June 1940, by a law which consolidated the functions of the Bureau of Construction and Repair (BuC&R) and the Bureau of Engineering (BuEng). The new bureau was ...

Bureau of Navigation The Bureau of Navigation, later the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection and finally the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation — not to be confused with the United States Navys Bureau of Navigation — was an agency of the Unite ...

Bureau of Supplies and Accounts The Bureau of Supplies and Accounts (BuSandA) was the United States Navy's supply organization between 1892 and 1966. Established in 1842 as the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing, the bureau was responsible for the procurement, receipt, storage, ...

Bureau of Steam Engineering The Bureau of Steam Engineering was a bureau of the United States Navy, created by the act of 5 July 1862, receiving some of the duties of the former Bureau of Construction, Equipment and Repair. It became, by the Naval Appropriation Act of 4 June ...

Bureau of Construction and Repair The Bureau of Construction and Repair (BuC&R) was the part of the United States Navy which from 1862 to 1940 was responsible for supervising the design, construction, conversion, procurement, maintenance, and repair of ships and other craft for the ...

, the

Bureau of Ordnance The Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd) was a United States Navy organization, which was responsible for the procurement, storage, and deployment of all naval weapons, between the years 1862 and 1959. History The Bureau of Ordnance was established as part ...

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) is an agency of the United States Department of the Navy that manages health care activities for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. BUMED operates hospitals and other healthcare ...

, the Secretary of Navy's offices, along with Naval Operations, and the Compensation Board. Later, other Navy Offices moved into Main Navy, including the

Dispensary A dispensary is an office in a school, hospital, industrial plant, or other organization that dispenses medications, medical supplies, and in some cases even medical and dental treatment. In a traditional dispensary set-up, a pharmacist dispense ...

, the Navy Red Cross, Examining Board, and Retiring Board, previously housed in Corcoran Courts, an apartment building converted into offices. The

Hydrographic Office A hydrographic office is an organization which is devoted to acquiring and publishing hydrographic information. Historically, the main tasks of hydrographic offices were the conduction of hydrographic surveys and the publication of nautical ch ...

and

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

moved to Main Navy from a Navy Annex building located at New York Avenue and 18th Street, and the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

relocated from the Munsey Building. The Navy Department Library was relocated to the Main Navy building in 1923. From 1926 to 1941, a small reinforced concrete roof penthouse on the Main Navy building was used for radio and communication intercepts training.

Criticism

The Main Navy and Munitions Buildings were disliked by many as going against the intentions of

Pierre Charles L'Enfant Pierre "Peter" Charles L'Enfant (; August 2, 1754June 14, 1825) was a French-American artist, professor, and military engineer. In 1791, L'Enfant designed the baroque-styled plan for the development of Washington, D.C., after it was designated ...

of making the

into an open space surrounded by aesthetically pleasing government buildings. The Munitions and Navy buildings were described as "unsightly shacks, of which many scores sprung up like mushrooms during the war". Due to their solid construction, some were concerned that the buildings would remain for an extended period.

Demolition

By 1960, the Munitions Building housed approximately 7,000 employees of not only the Navy but also the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

Veterans Administration The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing lifelong healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...

, and the

. After decades of use, the building experienced structural problems in the late 1950s and 1960s, including cracked concrete piers, numerous interior cracked and bent walls, and settling floors. The buildings, constructed on marshy parkland, were damp, and the foundations settling. Portions of the buildings were declared unsafe in 1969, resulting in approximately 3,000 employees relocating to other facilities. In December 1969, President

announced a plan for demolishing the Main Navy and Munitions Buildings. The plan involved moving Navy employees to new buildings in the Crystal City and Ballston areas in

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

. The Main Navy and Munitions Buildings remained on the Mall until 1970, when they were demolished. In the 1970s,

was built on the former site of the Main Navy and Munitions Buildings, and the

was built nearby in the early 1980s.

In popular culture

The buildings are briefly featured in the 1970 film ''

Tora! Tora! Tora! ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' () is a 1970 epic war film that dramatizes the events leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, from both American and Japanese positions. The film was produced by Elmo Williams and directed by Richard F ...

'' and are used as a backdrop setting in the matters of the War Department leading up to the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

. Shortly after the film was made, the buildings were demolished.

References

External links

Main Navy Building: Its Construction and Original Occupants
Naval Historical Foundation publication

{{good article Buildings of the United States government in Washington, D.C. Closed installations of the United States Navy Demolished buildings and structures in Washington, D.C. 1918 establishments in Washington, D.C.