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Capitol Hill and the east · 20 photographs

The Navy Yard

The Navy's oldest shore establishment, then a great gun factory on the Anacostia.

Officers and officials saluting a flag-draped casket on a pier
1921 Leaders of state, army and navy salute as the casket of the Unknown Soldier is carried ashore, November 9, 1921. place probableNational Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LOT 12354-3 <item> [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

History

Founded in 1799 on the Anacostia River, the Navy Yard was made the manufacturing centre for all the Navy’s ordnance in 1886. It made the guns for the Great White Fleet and armament for the navy of the First World War, including the 14-inch railway guns used in France, and it was one of the largest industrial employers in the city.

What's there now

The yard is a Navy headquarters and the home of the National Museum of the U.S. Navy. The neighbourhood around it has been rebuilt with offices, flats and Nationals Park (2008).

Then and now

The smoke, the rail sidings and the guns being moved on cranes in these photographs are gone.

Photographs 20, oldest first

Rows of shell cases on a factory floor with machinery
1917 Stacks of brass cartridge cases in a Navy Yard workshop, 1917.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 9916 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A huge old cannon on a rusting carriage beside rows of cannon barrels
1917 Old mortars and cannon displayed on the lawn of the Navy Yard, 1917.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 9922 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
Men standing among racks of brass shell cases
1917 Workers with racks of finished cartridge cases at the Navy Yard, 1917.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 9930 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A worker at a large machine with metal parts
1917 A machinist at work on cartridge-case discs at the Navy Yard, 1917.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 9934 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A man working beside a long gun barrel in a machine shop
1917 A gun barrel on a lathe in the Naval Gun Factory, 1917.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 9937 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A huge gun barrel in a lathe in a tall factory hall
1917 Boring the breech of a 14-inch naval gun at the Navy Yard, 1917.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 9946 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A man in a cap leaning over a gun barrel on a lathe
1917 A machinist examines a 5-inch gun as it is turned and bored, 1917.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 9948 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
Long gun barrels on flat cars in a rail yard with a crane tower
1917 Finished 14-inch guns on railway cars, ready to go to the proving ground, 1917.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 9954 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A vast factory hall filled with rows of long gun barrels under overhead cranes
1917 Row upon row of huge naval gun barrels fill the big gun shop at the Washington Navy Yard in 1917.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 9955 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A long indoor water tank with a steel carriage spanning it under a skylit roof
November 18, 1919 The long Experimental Model Basin at the Navy Yard, a towing carriage spanning the water under a glazed roof, 1919.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F8- 5918 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
People working at tables on a large plaster relief map
c. 1920–21 Model makers build a relief map in a Navy Yard workshop, 1920.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F82- 4932 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
Officers and officials saluting a flag-draped casket on a pier
1921 Leaders of state, army and navy salute as the casket of the Unknown Soldier is carried ashore, November 9, 1921. place probableNational Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LOT 12354-3 <item> [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
Men in overcoats and naval uniforms standing on rows of giant gun barrels in a factory yard
December 17, 1921 Navy Secretary Edwin Denby and officers walk across rows of huge gun barrels at the Navy Yard in December 1921, guns meant for battleships yet to be built.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LOT [album] [item] [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
Dozens of huge naval gun barrels lying side by side between industrial buildings
February 10, 1922 Rows of great gun barrels lie in the yard outside the Navy Yard's shops, February 1922.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F81- 17608 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
Men at heavy presses with a finished mail box on a workbench
November 3, 1922 Workmen press out sheet-metal mail boxes, one marked "U.S. Mail Letters", in a Navy Yard shop, November 1922.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F81- 21260 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A large arched gateway with a guard and a streetcar beyond
1923 The arched main gate of the Navy Yard, 1923.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F8- 22043 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A long indoor water tank under a glass roof
1924 The long experimental model basin at the Navy Yard, 1924, used for testing ship designs.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F81- 33769 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
Officials on a platform in a huge factory hall with long gun barrels and workmen around
August 1, 1924 Secretary Wilbur and John Coolidge tour the vast gun shop of the Navy Yard among great gun barrels, August 1, 1924.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F8- 31702 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
Men in overcoats and naval uniform beside a deck gun on a submarine
December 3, 1924 Navy Secretary Wilbur and officers inspect the deck gun of the submarine V-1 at the Navy Yard, December 3, 1924.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F8- 33477 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A long submarine moored beside a dock with a crane
November 20, 1928 The new submarine V-4 tied up at the Navy Yard, November 20, 1928.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H2- B-3094 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

Nearby: Anacostia and the river · Washington Barracks and the War College · The Library of Congress · The Capitol · The Southwest waterfront