WASHINGTON NAVY YARD

Location: On the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., 3 ½ miles from the White House

Size: 42 acres, several thousand employees. The base includes 45 historic structures, most dating from the 1800s.

Nickname: "The Quarterdeck of the Navy," recognizing its role as a ceremonial and administrative center for the Navy.

Facilities: Headquarters, Chief of Naval Operations; Regional Headquarters, Naval District Washington; Navy Installations Command; Office of the Naval Inspector General; Office of the Judge Advocate General; Military Sealift Command; Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station; Naval Facilities Engineering Command; Naval Sea Systems Command; regional Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command; Naval History and Heritage Command, including the Naval Museum; Marine Corps Institute.

Also of note: Home of the U.S. Naval Band and (until its sale in 1977) the president's yacht.

History: Authorized in 1799, making it the Navy's oldest installation, the U.S. Navy Yard since 1815 been a center for naval research and development. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. Among historically important events:

— Burned during the War of 1812 to keep it from falling into the hands of the British.

— Served as the gateway to Washington for the first Japanese diplomat to arrive in 1860.

— Ships anchored off the Navy Yard housed those arrested in President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

— After the Civil War, the Navy Yard became the manufacturing site for Navy ordnance, and built the heavy guns used on U.S. ships in World Wars I and II. Following World War II, it was rechristened the U.S. Naval Gun Factory.

— In 1964, after ordnance work was phased out, the Navy Yard name was restored and the facility became the home of numerous Navy offices.

Source: Commander, Naval Installations Command; U.S. Department of the Interior, McClatchy Newspapers

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A rendering of the columbarium memorial that is estimated to be completed by next summer or fall in the southeast part of Oakland Cemetery, officials said. (Courtesy of Historic Oakland Foundation)

Credit: Historic Oakland Foundation