Fort Hunt Park: Non Commissioned Officer's Quarters Historic Structure Report

Bouchard, Amanda; Inthavong, Diana

The purpose of this Historic Structure Report (HSR) is to guide the preservation and continued maintenance of the Non-Commissioned Officer’s Quarters located at Fort Hunt Park in Alexandria, Virginia. Fort Hunt was a former military base designated in 1893 as a Coastal Defense Fortification, and today exists as part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. A number of remnants of the military base still stand, including four concrete gun batteries, a battery commander's station, and a residence, the Non- Commissioned Officer’s (NCO) Quarters. Fort Hunt and its associated structures were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The National Register of Historic Places criteria for evaluation reveals that Fort Hunt as a whole and the Non-Commissioned Officer’s Quarters in particular are significant to the history of the United States. The elements meet Criteria A and C for their association with the military events and construction that occurred at Fort Hunt during its time as an active military base, as a means of waterway protection again possible incursion by sea. Fort Hunt was the last defensive complex constructed on the Potomac River to guard the Nation’s Capital from naval attack. The federal government first acquired the land for Fort Hunt in 1893, and authorized construction three years later. Actual construction did not begin until 1897, and troops arrived in 1898. Today, the NCO Quarters home at Fort Hunt helps provide a glimpse of the U.S. Army’s early attempts at providing housing for its troops, and of the standardization of residential architecture on U.S. posts. In the 1980 National Register of Historic Places Nomination, National Park Service Historian Barry Mackintosh identifies Fort Hunt’s period of significance as 1897-1917. During this time the United States invested in the “Endicott system” of seacoast defenses to guard the nation’s major seaports. The Army purchased 90 acres of farmland (the Pelton tract) at Sheridan point in 1893 along the Potomac River. The system involved establishing forts along major waterways with the capacity to attack enemy warships. Mounted fortifications built into concrete were not visible from the water. The application of these defense systems diffused after World War I and were found to be ineffectual due to aircraft and submarines. Today the only remaining structures of this period are four concrete Endicott batteries, a battery commander station, and a non-commissioned officer’s quarters.

Fort Hunt Park: Non Commissioned Officer's Quarters Historic Structure Report

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