Fort Washington, Fort, 13551 Fort Washington Road, Fort Washington Forest, Prince George's County, MD

Significance: Fort Washington's predecessor, Fort Warburton, was completed in December 1809 to guard the Potomac River entrance to the Capital City. During the War of 1812, on August 27, 1814, it was destroyed by its garrison to prevent the capture of its equipment and munitions by enemy forces. In less than two weeks Major Pierre L'Enfant was hired by the U.S. government to clear the remains and to construct new defenses, to be named Fort Washington. L'Enfant worked on them briefly before he was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Walker Armistead, chief engineer of the Alexandria District, who completed the new fort on October 2, 1824. The fort was remodeled during the 1840's to correct deficiencies in the original design. During the Civil War, it was held by Union forces under the command of Captain Joseph A. Haskins. It was the only garrison for the National Capital until a circle of forts was built around the city in the 1860's. From 1875 to 1921 it was a military post and headquarters for the defenses of the Potomac. Until 1939 the 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry, and the Honor Guard for the Military District of Washington were stationed at the fort. During World War II, the fort was the home of the Officer's Candidate School of the Adjutant General's Corps. From 1944 until 1946, it was a Veteran's Administration Hospital. In 1946, the fort was turned over to the Department of the Interior for use as a park.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N264

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N691

Survey number: HABS MD-307-D

Building/structure dates: 1809 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: 1814 Demolished

Building/structure dates: 1824 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: after. 1840- before. 1850 Subsequent Work

forts and fortifications national parks and reserves brick buildings magazines military buildings building deterioration military education war civil war military headquarters medical aspects of war adaptive reuse recreation fort washington forest fort washington fort washington road forest prince george maryland walker armistead angel ayor brian bittner jack boucher judy davis fort warburton greg harrell brian harrington joseph a haskins naomi hernandez historic american buildings survey frank hutto pierre l enfant adam maksay devroy mcfarlane helen mui anthony padgett virginia barrett price mark schara matt snoap j raul vazquez photo prince george county american civil war civil war george washington architectural diagrams library of congress

1933 - 1970

Library of Congress

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