Washington Barracks and the War College

The Army post at the point where the Anacostia meets the Potomac, with the Army War College of 1907.

Aerial view of a long parade ground on a point between rivers — 1919 Washington Barracks and the Army War College at the tip of Greenleaf Point, from the air, 1919.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 30453 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

History

The Army post at Greenleaf Point dates back to 1791. The Lincoln conspirators were tried there in 1865, and four of them were hanged in the yard of its penitentiary. In 1907 the Army War College moved into Roosevelt Hall, a new building by McKim, Mead & White at the tip of the point, and the post, then called Washington Barracks, was a busy Army post in the First World War.

What's there now

The post, renamed in 1948, is now Fort Lesley J. McNair, home of the National Defense University; the National War College occupies Roosevelt Hall.

Then and now

Roosevelt Hall is outwardly unchanged; the riverside around the post has been redeveloped.

Photographs 4, oldest first

A toddler on a donkey in front of brick barracks buildings — 1915 A small child rides a donkey on the parade ground at Washington Barracks, 1915.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 5101 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

Brick buildings and an iron fence with a column of black smoke rising behind — c. 1913–18 A plume of dark smoke rises beyond the gates of Washington Barracks as men gather in the street.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 11045 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A launch on a wide river with a large building on the far shore — April 1924 A motor boat on the Potomac off Fort McNair, with Roosevelt Hall behind, 1924.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H27- A-8348 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

Nearby: The Southwest waterfront · The Navy Yard · The Potomac waterfront · The Capitol · The Library of Congress