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 United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the Depo ...

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 A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

. The

Washington meridian The Washington meridians are four meridians that were used as prime meridians in the United States and pass through Washington, D.C. The four which have been specified are: # through the Capitol # through the White House # through the old Na ...

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

in 1965. and '

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. The

Moons of Mars The two moons of Mars are Phobos and Deimos. They are irregular in shape. Both were discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall in August 1877 and are named after the Greek mythological twin characters Phobos (fear and panic) and Deimos ( ...

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.

Naval Medical Hospital and National Institute of Health

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 National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

in Bethesda, Maryland. The U.S. Public Health Service Hygienic Laboratory, later the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U ...

, 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.

Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and CIA

The facility housed the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery from 1942 until 2012. The

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all bran ...

was located on the campus as was the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

until 1961. In 1963, multiple buildings were demolished to construct the

E Street Expressway Interstate 66 (I-66) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It runs from an interchange with I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its western end to an interchange with U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in Washin ...

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 The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

due to

Base Realignment and Closure Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is a process by a United States federal government commission to increase United States Department of Defense efficiency by coordinating the realignment and closure of military installations following the en ...

, and the Navy will be moving out. The Central Intelligence Agency's forerunner, the

was a tenant on the Hill during World War II, and the

United States Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant ...

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 Louis Berger (formerly known as Berger Group Holdings) is a full-service engineering, architecture, planning, environmental, program and construction management and economic development firm based in Morristown, New Jersey. Founded in 1953 in Ha ...

won a $2.5 million contract in January 2014 to begin planning the renovation of the buildings on the Navy Hill campus.Sernovitz, Daniel J. "Boston Firm Picked for State Department Consolidation." ''Washington Business Journal.'' January 14, 2014.
Accessed 2014-01-14.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science Infrastructure completed in 1843 Astronomical observatories in Washington, D.C. Buildings of the United States government in Washington, D.C. Buildings of the United States Navy Foggy Bottom National Historic Landmarks in Washington, D.C. Historic American Buildings Survey in Washington, D.C. 1843 establishments in Washington, D.C. Closed installations of the United States Navy