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Dahlgren’s interior with ice rink and recreational area, 1980. USNA photo courtesy of the Special Collections and Archives Department.
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Continuing the historic building series that highlights the Public Works Department project to install building profiles in many of the historic buildings across the Yard, this week’s featured building is Dahlgren Hall. Constructed in 1903, the building is named after John A.B. Dahlgren, known as the ‘‘Father of Naval Ordnance.”
Dahlgren was appointed a Midshipman in the U.S. Navy in 1826. His most famous contribution to naval history was the invention of the Dahlgren gun, a cast-iron, smoothbore shell gun designed to increase the safety and range of artillery fire aboard ships.
During the Civil War, he served as Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and commander of the Washington Navy Yard. President Abraham Lincoln frequently consulted him to discuss naval strategy and the latest weaponry. He was later appointed by Lincoln to rear admiral in command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron during which time he led the naval support for Gen. William Sherman’s 1864 campaign in Charleston, S.C. In 1869, he returned to the Washington Navy Yard where he served until his death in 1870.
Like Mahan Hall, Dahlgren Hall is an example of the Beaux Arts architecture used by the Academy’s principal architect Ernest Flagg. Flagg is credited with pushing for reform in American architecture to embrace pragmatic, inexpensive designs to ease the housing crisis that developed during the Great Depression. He applied these ideals in his design for the Academy to turn what an 1898 edition of ‘‘Scientific American” deemed ‘‘a motley assemblage of buildings” into a monumental design fit for the nation’s highly respected naval training institution.
Flagg’s design for Dahlgren Hall is characteristic of the aesthetics of his classic French style and at first glance appears to mimic the design of 19th century European train stations. The large, utilitarian design of the building was meant to reflect its intended purpose as an armory, and the interior was left intentionally bare with exposed metal trusses and large, imposing metal gates. The overall effect was meant to convey the themes of naval supremacy popularized by Alfred T. Mahan’s groundbreaking ideas of the era.
In addition to serving as the Academy’s armory, it was the site of graduation from 1903 to 1957 and has hosted the most graduation ceremonies of any site at the Academy. In 1973, a renovation project added an ice-skating rink which was closed in 2006 when the hockey team moved to the newly constructed Brigade Sports Complex, as well as a restaurant now known as the Dry Dock.
Public Works Annapolis is conducting a study to assess future uses for the Dahlgren Hall. Due to the building’s status as a contributing element in the Academy’s National Historic Landmark District, future uses must be balanced with the need to maintain the historical architectural integrity of Flagg’s design.
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