The family man | German-American Community | Career | City History | Cluss-Buildings | Cluss in the context of the city

Powder Magazines for the Navy Yard (24)
and for the U.S. Arsenal (now Fort Lesley J. McNair) (25)

24: Washington Navy Yard
Constructed between 1859 and 1864, demolished

25: U.S. Arsenal (now Fort Lesley J. McNair), 4th, One-Half and P Streets, SW
Constructed between 1861 and 1864, demolished

Military commissions helped launch Adolf Cluss' architectural career. His work at the Navy Yard led to Cluss's assignment to plan powder magazines for both the Navy and the Army in the "vicinity of Washington," all completed presumably during the Civil War (1861-65). An 1865 map of the Washington Arsenal shows two powder magazines.

After the Civil War, Cluss also urged the removal of the powder magazines. As the District Inspector of Public Buildings and as a Chief Engineer for the Territorial government in 1872-73, Cluss strongly recommended the removal of the magazines for safety reasons, saying that no other city in the world contained within its boundaries so much explosive force.

back

 

 

produced by STIMME.NET
Top of the page