The Old Naval Hospital is on Square 948, which was originally divided into four lots.
Lots 1 and 2 were purchased by Lewis Deblois, an early investor in the District who also built a tavern across the street (on the southeast corner of 9th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue SE) for John Nicholson, who then hired William Tunnicliffe to operate the establishment.
In 1799, Deblois secured a position as a foreman at the navy yard, possibly due to the influence of his father-in-law, Tristam Dalton, who had been a Senator from Massachusetts, Treasurer of the Mint under George Washington, and was a friend of John Adams. However, he was dismissed from this post by William Marbury for financial irregularities.
In the last days of his term President John Adams placed Lewis Deblois and his father-in-law on a list of nominations to be Justice of the Peace. Ironically, William Marbury, the man who had fired Lewis from his post at the Navy Yard, was also on that list and it was Marbury who gained immortality when John Marshall used his suit against Secretary of State James Madison (MARBURY v. MADISON, 5 U.S. 137 (1803)) to establish the Supreme Court as a co-equal branch of the federal government.
On April 25, 1812, Debloise secured a commission as a Naval Purser, but his performance of that position was also attended by controversy. On June 4, 1821, the executors of his estate transferred lots 1 and 2 on Square 948 to the government at a value of $3,000 to settle the debt from his duties as a Purser.
On March 3, 1865, after Congress had approved construction of the Naval Hospital, the other two lots on Square 948 were purchased for $4,819.50 from Henry Bradley and his wife.
The first patients were admitted into the building on October 1, 1866, and it served as the Naval Hospital, Washington, D.C., until 1906 when a replacement Hospital was built on a high point between the current State Department and Kennedy Center. It appears that because this was called the "New Naval Hospital" people started referring to our facility as the "Old Naval Hospital".
In 1960, the Navy Department reported the property as excess to the General Services Administration. An undated "LAND ACQUISITION DATA" form appears to be related to this report.
In 1962 the General Services Administration transferred the Old Naval Hospital "to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia."
Treasury Department, Procurement Division - Record of Federal Real Estate (1936)
Federal Owned Real Estate Under the Control of the Navy Department (1937)
Headquarters, United Spanish American War Veterans (Undated)
Navy Report of Property as Excess to General Services Administration (March 16, 1960)
LAND ACQUISITION DATA (Undated Form)
Standard Form 118 - REPORT OF EXCESS REAL PROPERTY (March 30, 1961)
GSA Form 1432 - DETERMINATION OF SURPLUS (April 27, 1961)
GSA Form 118b - SCHEDULE B - SUPPLEMENT TO REPORT OF EXCESS REAL PROPERTY (Undated)
NAVDOCKS 2489a - SUPPLEMENT TO REPORT OF EXCESS REAL PROPERTY (Undated)
GSA Letter Transmitting FORM 1432 (May 16, 1961)
GSA Form 38 - Transfer of Old Naval Hospital to D.C. Government (April 23, 1962)
Transfer to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia (April 26, 1962)
PERMANENT LAND INTEREST RECORD (April 1965)
Undated notes about the Old Naval Hospital property
This site is sponsored by the Friends of the Old Naval Hospital
Last updated November 18, 2008
