1915 DCWashington a century ago
  1. Home
  2. Places
  3. State, War and Navy Building

The ceremonial core · 23 photographs

State, War and Navy Building

Alfred Mullett's enormous French Second Empire office building beside the White House, home of three departments.

A cow on a lawn before a huge ornate building
c. 1909–13 Pauline, President Taft's pet cow, grazes on the lawn in front of the State, War and Navy Building, 1909-1913.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LOT 12357-4 <item> [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

History

Built between 1871 and 1888 to designs by Alfred B. Mullett, the State, War and Navy Building was an enormous granite office block with mansard roofs, much mocked for its French Second Empire style. It housed all three departments in its name, and its tenants soon outgrew it; in 1918 the War and Navy departments got vast temporary buildings of their own on the Mall.

What's there now

Renamed the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in 1999, it holds offices of the White House staff and the Vice President. It was nearly demolished in 1957.

Then and now

Outwardly the building is unchanged; 17th Street alongside it carries much heavier traffic.

Photographs 23, oldest first

A large ornate granite government building with tiers of columns
c. 1902 The State, War and Navy Building across an empty street in the early 1900s.Detroit Publishing Company, Library of Congress · LC-D4-14222 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A spotted cow grazing on a lawn in front of a huge ornate government building
c. 1909 Pauline, the Taft family's cow, grazes on the lawn before the State, War and Navy Building around 1909.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LOT 12359-1-H [item] [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A huge ornate granite building with many columns and mansard roofs
c. 1900–20 The State, War and Navy Building, 1900s.Detroit Publishing Company, Library of Congress · LC-D4-3 X [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A cow on a lawn before a huge ornate building
c. 1909–13 Pauline, President Taft's pet cow, grazes on the lawn in front of the State, War and Navy Building, 1909-1913.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LOT 12357-4 <item> [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A long covered wooden stand on a tree-lined street
1913 Inaugural stands go up in front of the State, War and Navy Building, 1913.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 2000140 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A large crowd and band before an ornate building hung with flags and banners
1914 President Wilson speaks at the 1914 Flag Day exercises before the flag-hung State, War and Navy Building, a band and crowd below.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 4074 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A crowd before a decorated stand beside a huge ornate building
1914 Crowds at the Flag Day exercises outside the State, War and Navy Building, 1914, where President Wilson spoke.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 4076 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A massive ornate building beyond a wide street with blurred pedestrians and cars
c. 1910–20 The State, War and Navy Building across a busy street corner, pedestrians, carriages and motor cars blurred in motion, late 1910s.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H25- 3049 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A motor ambulance and men on a street before a columned building
c. 1916–18 A Red Cross motor ambulance outside the State Department, about 1917.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 8697 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A man beside a pushcart with a Red Cross sign in front of an ornate building
c. 1916–18 Peanut vendor Steve Vasilakas with his cart outside the State, War and Navy Building, pledging his takings to the Red Cross during the war.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 9548 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
Three national flags flying from the roof of an ornate government building
1917 French, American and British flags fly from the State Department building for the visit of the Allied commission in 1917.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 8558 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
An ornate bronze cannon on a terrace beside a large building
1917 A captured Spanish cannon at the War Department, 1917, about to be melted down for medals.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 9127 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
Two flags hanging from the corner of an ornate building
1917 Japanese and American flags on the State, War and Navy Building for the Japanese mission, 1917.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 9364 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
People on the broad steps of a huge granite building
c. 1917–18 People going up the steps of the State Department, 1917-18.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 9283 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
People walking on wide granite steps with buildings across a street
c. 1917–19 Pedestrians on the steps at the southwest corner of the State, War and Navy Building, with 17th Street behind, about 1918.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 29765 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
An ornate red-brick Second Empire building with a mansard roof
c. 1918–20 The old Corcoran Gallery of Art at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, about 1919, now the Renwick Gallery.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F8- 1613 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A huge ornate government building with many columns and chimneys beyond a curving road
c. 1918–20 The State, War and Navy Building's tiers of columns and mansard roofs rise beyond a curving drive, around 1918-1920.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F8- 1619 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
An open touring car parked before a huge ornate government building
c. 1920 A Hudson Super Six motor car at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, in front of the State, War and Navy Building, around 1920.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LOT 12350-1 [item] [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A spray of water from a hose against a large ornate building, men and cars nearby
c. 1919–21 A fire hose plays on the State, War and Navy Building as men and parked cars wait on the street below, around 1920.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H234- A-736 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A man on a horse riding toward the camera in front of a huge ornate building
c. 1921–22 President Warren Harding rides out on horseback in front of the State, War and Navy Building, with motor cars parked along the street, 1921 or 1922.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H234- A-3712 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A high view of pedestrians on paths through a park, an ornate building at right
c. 1921–24 People stroll past patches of snow on the walks beside the State, War and Navy Building, looking east, in the early 1920s.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H27- A-8130 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
Looking along a shadowy colonnade of heavy columns toward the Washington Monument
c. 1924 The Washington Monument framed by the massive columns of the State, War and Navy Building's colonnade, around 1924.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F81- 31810 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication
A huge ornate building beside a low white office block
December 27, 1929 The State, War and Navy Building beside the fire-damaged executive offices, December 27, 1929.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LOT 12299, v. 4 [item] [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

Nearby: The White House and Lafayette Square · The Treasury · Seventeenth Street · The Washington Monument · Pennsylvania Avenue