Observatory Hill Historic District Map)
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NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. 1. Name of Property Historic name: _Observatory Hill ______________ Other names/site number: _(see continuation sheet)_________________ Name of related multiple property listing: _N/A__________________________________________________________ (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing) ____________________________________________________________________________ 2. Location Street & number: _23rd and E streets, NW________________________________________ City or town: Washington_ State: _District of Columbia County: _N/A Not For Publication: Vicinity: ____________________________________________________________________________ 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property _X_ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance: _X_ national __ _statewide _X_local Applicable National Register Criteria: _X_A _X_B _X_C _X_D Signature of certifying official/Title: Date _Federal Preservation Officer, U.S. General Services Administration________________________ State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government 1 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Observatory Hill Washington, D.C. Name of Property County and State In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria. Signature of commenting official: Date Title : State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government ______________________________________________________________________________ 4. National Park Service Certification I hereby certify that this property is: entered in the National Register determined eligible for the National Register determined not eligible for the National Register removed from the National Register other (explain:) _____________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Signature of the Keeper Date of Action ____________________________________________________________________________ 5. Classification Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply.) Private: Public – Local Public – State Public – Federal X X Category of Property (Check only one box.) Building(s) District X X Site Sections 1-6 page 2 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Observatory Hill Washington, D.C. Name of Property County and State Structure Object Number of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count) Contributing Noncontributing ____12_______ _____10______ buildings _____2______ _____________ sites _____________ ______1_______ structures _____1_______ _____________ objects _____15________ ______11_______ Total Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ____1_____ The Old Naval Observatory (Building 2) was designated an NHL in 1965 and listed in the NRHP in 1966. ____________________________________________________________________________ 6. Function or Use Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) __DEFENSE/naval facility_________________ _ EDUCATION/research facility_ __HEALTH CARE/hospital _______________ __GOVERNMENT/ government office _____ __LANDSCAPE_______________ __ __DOMESTIC/institutional housing_________ _______________ ____ Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) __GOVERNMENT/government office _ Sections 1-6 page 3 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Observatory Hill Washington, D.C. Name of Property County and State __DOMESTIC/institutional housing____ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ Sections 1-6 page 4 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Observatory Hill Washington, D.C. Name of Property County and State _____________________________________________________________________________ 7. Description Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions.) MID-19th CENTURY: Greek Revival_ LATE 19th AND 20th CENTURY REVIVALS: Colonial Revival; Classical Revival_ OTHER: Simplified Classical_ ___________________ ___________________ Materials: (enter categories from instructions.) Principal exterior materials of the property: Foundation - STONE: Limestone Walls - BRICK, STONE: Limestone, STUCCO Roof: STONE: Slate, SYNTHETICS, METAL Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic integrity.) ______________________________________________________________________________ Summary Paragraph Observatory Hill is a federal campus composed of 13 free-standing buildings constructed between 1844 and 1933 on a 14.6-acre hilltop in the Foggy Bottom area of northwest Washington, D.C. The landscape setting, characterized by mature trees, curving roadways and perimeter walls, is set off from the surrounding urban grid. The district’s large two- and three- story masonry buildings share a common classical vocabulary and architectural features including columned porticos, quoined corners, dentiled cornices, light colored brick or limestone walls, slate or synthetic slate-clad hipped roofs and multi-light windows. The oldest buildings within the district, the Old Naval Observatory1 and the Naval Medical School and Washington Naval Hospital, completed in 1844 and 1906 respectively, have a generally axial relationship in the central position of the site. The Observatory is located at the highest point within the complex, its placement dictated by its original function as an astronomical observatory. The smaller officer’s residences, nurses’ dormitories and specialized medical wards, completed between 1908 and 1911, flank the two central buildings to the east, west and south. Further to the west and downslope from these buildings are three buildings arrayed around a grassy quadrangle. The oldest of these, the Central Building, completed in 1921, was constructed as a laboratory for the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service while the East and South buildings, both dating to 1 The Old Naval Observatory (Building 2) was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 12, 1965. Section 7 page 5 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Observatory Hill Washington, D.C. Name of Property County and State 1933, were constructed for the National Institute of Health2 as an administrative building and laboratory, respectively. In addition to these 13 contributing buildings, the district includes a number of small-scale secondary buildings that are noncontributing. The landscape includes natural as well as manmade features associated with the development of the district in the period of significance. In addition, the district includes an archeological site (51NW176) with multiple components, related to the Old Naval Observatory, Naval Museum of Hygiene and Naval Medical School and Hospital. The district retains sufficient integrity to convey its significance for the period from 1844 to 1961. All major buildings constructed within that period remain, with the exception the U.S. Hygienic Laboratory (1903), demolished circa 1963 for the construction of the E Street Expressway. The expressway construction also reduced the campus along its northern and western edges, affecting landscape features. The remaining buildings retain a high degree of exterior integrity. Replacement windows and roof cladding generally replicate the original appearance. Interiors, generally modest in character, have undergone successive alterations to suit changing tenant requirements. The landscape has also undergone successive alterations throughout the period of significance as the site developed from the park-like Observatory compound to the intensively developed medical and research campus of the early twentieth century. Modifications continued throughout