This version of Preservation Notes begins at the beginning. Why was the country’s first permanent naval hospital built at 921 Pennsylvania Avenue S.E.? Location, location, location. Square 948, the ¾-acre site between E Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, and 9th and…
This year was...different. January 2020 feels like an entirely alternate universe at this point. With time being kind of a blur, we thought we’d take a look back at what you all helped make possible in 2020. Without your continued…
Voters in Washington, D.C., elected their first mayor since the Civil War the same year that the naval hospital built to serve soldiers of that war was added to the National Register of Historic Places. On May 3, 1974, the…
When we set out to restore and refurbish the Old Naval Hospital site ten years ago to create Hill Center, our principal focus, of course, was on the handsome main building, which had fallen into serious disrepair. The little carriage…
Preserving a historic building like the Old Naval Hospital is full of surprises, like the lawn that wouldn’t drain. But just as often it’ll be a key part of the physical plant whose lifespan is limited and whose need for…
It takes a small army of very dedicated people to preserve the Old Naval Hospital. But, we have a lot of fun doing it - and find ourselves talking about topics that could be considered a little out of the…
This begins a new series of posts called Hill Center History. It's easy to forget that the Old Naval Hospital, which is the home to Hill Center, has been around for over 150 years and has seen DC go through…
By Amy Nazarov of Dead Men’s Hollow My husband Ari and I bought a condo on East Capitol Street SE in 2002. Every weekend, we explored our new neighborhood on foot; one day in 2002 or 2003, we can’t quite…