Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Standardizing Magnetic Observatory, 5241 Broad Branch Drive Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

Significance: The Carnegie Institution of Washington, with funds provided by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, established the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism 9 DTM) in 1904 to survey and measure the earth's magnetic fields. The Standardizing Magnetic Observatory (SMO) building, used for testing measuring instruments (galvanometers, earth inductors, and magnetometers, for example), was designed by the well-known Washington, DC, architect Waddy Wood who also designed the DTM's adjacent headquarters and laboratory building.
Survey number: HAER DC-52-A
Building/structure dates: 1914 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1988 Demolished