Navy Yard Neighborhood
Section: DC Neighborhoods
Author: Susan Isaacs, Washington DC Real Estate Strategist
The Navy Yard is a functioning naval base, luxury residential neighborhood and dining destination. The Yards, located between Nationals Park and the Navy Yard, adds award-winning restaurants, craft breweries, retail, the Yards Marina and Yards Park. Combined, they offer year-round entertainment and activities, as well as luxury condos and apartments.
About Navy Yard
The Navy Yard and The Yards are dynamic neighborhoods located along the Anacostia River. These neighborhoods have driven a remarkable transformation of the area in recent years. Historically an industrial area and home to the Washington Navy Yard, the neighborhood has evolved into a vibrant urban community with a mix of residential, commercial, and recreational spaces.
The Yards is a 42-acre mixed-use real estate development project within the the broader Navy Yard neighborhood (aka the Capitol Riverfront district). The Yards has played a significant role in the riverfront revitalization, offering a blend of modern living, dining, and retail experiences, anchored by Nationals Park, home stadium of the Washington Nationals.
The Navy Yard Capitol Riverfront neighborhood footprint spans hundreds of acres and includes Yards Park, the Washington Navy Yard military base, Navy Yard Ballpark Metro station, and multiple distinct blocks of condominiums, apartments, offices and boutique retail.
The Navy Yard has become a destination for its dining establishments, marina and waterfront boardwalk, and proximity to The Wharf, downtown, Barracks Row, and Capitol Hill South. Its housing is characterized by contemporary condominiums, luxury apartments, and townhomes.
What makes it desirable:
Modern + historic
Energetic vibe
Dining options
District Winery
River recreation
Nearby:
The Yards
The Wharf
Capitol Hill South
Barracks Row
Navy Yard History
Purchase & Establishment
The Navy Yard land was purchased under an Act of Congress on July 23, 1799 and the Yard was established on October 2nd of the same year. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy.
The Yard was constructed under the direction of Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert and supervised by Commodore Thomas Tingey, who served in the position for 29 years. A white brick wall marked the original boundaries along 9th and M Street SE. In 1801, two additional lots were purchased. The north wall of the Yard was built in 1809 along with a guardhouse, now known as the Latrobe Gate. After the Burning of Washington in 1814, Tingey recommended that the height of the eastern wall be increased to ten feet due to the fire and subsequent looting. The southern boundary was formed by the Anacostia River, added to by landfill over the years as it became necessary to increase the size of the Yard. The west side was undeveloped marsh.
Shipbuilding And Shipfitting
The Washington Navy Yard became the navy’s largest shipbuilding and shipfitting facility, with 22 vessels constructed there, ranging from small 70-foot gunboats to the 246-foot steam frigate USS Minnesota. The USS Constitution came to the Yard in 1812 to refit and prepare for combat action. During the War of 1812, the Navy Yard was important not only as a support facility, but also as a strategic link in the city’s defense. When the British marched into Washington, holding the Yard became impossible. Tingey, seeing the smoke from the burning Capitol, ordered the Yard burned to prevent its capture by the enemy. Both structures are now individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After the War of 1812, the Yard never regained its prominence as a shipbuilding facility. The Anacostia River was too shallow to accommodate larger vessels, and the Yard was deemed too inaccessible to the open sea.
DC’s Largest Employer | Enslaved Labor
The Navy Yard had become the city’s largest employer by 1819. During World War II the Washington Navy Yard employed over 20,000 civilian workers. The Navy Yard was also the District’s principal employer of enslaved African Americans. Their numbers rose rapidly and by 1808, the enslaved made up one third of the workforce. The number of enslaved workers gradually declined during the next thirty years, though free and some enslaved African Americans remained a vital presence. One such person was former slave later freeman Michael Shiner, whose diary chronicled his life and work at the Yard for over fifty years.
Stream Technology
The Yard owned one of the earliest steam engines in the United States, making it a technology leader. The engine ran the saw mill and was used to manufacture anchors, chain, and steam engines for war vessels.
Civil War & Dahlgren
During the Civil War, the Yard once again became an important part of the defense of Washington. Commandant Franklin Buchanan resigned his commission to join the Confederacy, leaving the Yard to Commander John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren, a United States Navy officer. Dahlgren founded his service’s Ordnance Department and launched major advances in gunnery, including that of the smoothbore howitzer. President Abraham Lincoln frequently sought council with Dahlgren during his tenure and the two men remained in contact throughout Lincoln’s presidency. The famous ironclad USS Monitor was repaired at the Yard after her historic battle with the CSS Virginia. The Lincoln assassination conspirators were brought to the Yard following their capture. The body of John Wilkes Booth was examined and identified on the monitor USS Montauk, moored at the Yard.
Post Civil War
Following the Civil War, the Yard continued to be the scene of technological advances. In 1886, it was designated the manufacturing center for all Navy ordnance, which continued production through WWII. The weapons designed and built there were used in every war the United States fought until the 1960s. At its peak, the Yard consisted of 188 buildings on 126 acres of land and employed nearly 25,000 people. In December 1945, the Yard was renamed the U.S. Naval Gun Factory. Work was finally phased out in 1961 and on July 1, 1964, the activity was re-designated as the Washington Navy Yard.
The deserted factory buildings began to be converted to office use. In 1963, ownership of 55 acres of the Washington Navy Yard Annex was transferred to the General Services Administration (GSA). The Yards at the Southeast Federal Center are part of this former property and now include the headquarters for the Department of Transportation.
The Washington Navy Yard was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and designated a National Historic Landmark on May 11, 1976.
As industrial operations waned through the late 20th century, the area became polluted. Severe pollution plagued the neighborhood from the 1970s through the 1990s, a toxic legacy of over 150 years of heavy military manufacturing, combined with outdated municipal infrastructure and regional industrial dumping. Though weapons manufacturing stopped, hazardous byproducts remained in the soil, buildings, and river sediment. By the late 1990s, the contamination was so severe that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officially declared the Washington Navy Yard a National Priorities List Superfund site (1998).
During that period, the area fell into steep decline. Retail relocated and foot traffic all but ceased, leaving only empty buildings and vacant industrial lots.
Following the 1998 Superfund listing, the cleanup of the Washington Navy Yard shifted into a highly structured, decades-long regulatory process. The U.S. Navy took the lead role in remediation, closely supervised by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE).
Today, both agencies state that the Navy Yard neighborhood is safe for residents and visitors, with human health exposure fully under control. The site is classified under the status “Human Exposure Under Control,” meaning assessments show “there are currently no unacceptable human exposure pathways” affecting the general public. The area remains a designated Superfund site as the agencies maintain highly active monitoring and regulatory enforcement.
Play Ball
The neighborhood got its first chance at revitalization with the first pitch at the new Nationals Park in 2008. The stadium drew huge crowds and directed municipal focus back to the Anacostia riverfront.
Waterfront Redevelopment and The Yards
The creation of Yards Park in 2010 and Canal Park introduced green spaces, outdoor concerts, and community events to the area. The Yards Project was a major 42-acre mixed-use development designed to transform old industrial and warehouse footprints into high-end condominiums and apartments, restaurants, a distillery, and retail storefronts. The transformation was funded with a massive public-private partnership combining billions in private development capital with hundreds of millions in public municipal financing, federal land grants, and infrastructure bonds
Today’s Navy Yard and Yards Park are vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods that served to resurrect a blighted area along a vital DC waterway.
Sources: Wikipedia
Navy Yard Schools
Van Ness Elementary School Public Grades PK3 – 5
Jefferson Middle School Academy Public Grades 6 – 8
Eastern High School Public Grades 9 – 12
Disclaimer
We are not attorneys, legal experts, investment counselors, or CPAs. The content on this channel is presented for informational purposes only and derived from reliable sources, but should not be considered legal, financial, investment, transaction or real estate practice advice. Susan Isaacs and Compass, their principals and/or representatives, do not guarantee or warrant its accuracy, completeness, or applicability to any specific real estate transaction. Homebuyers should read applicable D.C. law and code as part of their due diligence, and seek help from licensed, qualified professionals for interpretation and application to their specific transaction.