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Photo, Print, Drawing United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery, Main Gate, 21 Harewood Road Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

View 5 images in sequence.
[ Photos from Survey HALS DC-51-A  ]

More Resources

View 6 images in sequence.
[ Drawings from Survey HALS DC-51-A  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HALS DC-51-A  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HALS DC-51-A  ]

About this Item

Title

  • United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery, Main Gate, 21 Harewood Road Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

Names

  • Historic American Landscapes Survey, creator
  • U.S. Office of National Cemeteries, Quartermaster General
  • U.S. Department of the Army
  • Meigs, Montgomery C.
  • Soldiers' Home National Cemetery
  • Composite Iron Works
  • Matthews, R. H.
  • U.S. Patent Office
  • Batchelder, R. N.
  • Lavoie, Catherine C., historian
  • Ortiz, Jarob J., photographer
  • Doddington, L. Naomi, delineator
  • Pierce, Ryan, field team
  • Lizarraga, Sergio, field team
  • Schara, Mark, project manager
  • McPartland, Mary, transmitter

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 2000

Headings

  • -  national cemeteries
  • -  war (Civil War)
  • -  gates
  • -  colonnades
  • -  Doric order
  • -  wrought-iron gates
  • -  District Of Columbia--District Of Columbia--Washington

Latitude / Longitude

  • 38.94457,-77.010701

Notes

  • -  Significance: The Main Gate, erected as a simple yet elegant, classically inspired colonnade, was built in 1883-84 to form the ceremonial entrance into what was then referred to as the Soldiers' Home National Cemetery. It was built from architectural components of local landmarks, likely from the U.S. Patent Office building, that Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs salvaged after the building burned in 1879; Meigs in fact used parts from the Patent Office to build the Temple of Fame at Arlington Cemetery the same year the Main Gate was erected. Meigs also employed this tactic for the similarly styled Sheridan and Ord-Weitzel gates at Arlington, erected in 1879 from parts of the porticos of the former State and War Department buildings. While Meigs may not have actually designed the gate, his hand is clearly visible in its reuse of parts and the practice of inscribing on its columns the names of great statesman and military commanders. The Soldiers' Home National Cemetery was created in 1861, following the outbreak of the Civil War to provide burial for soldiers and officers of the Union Army, and is the nation's oldest military cemetery. The Commissioners of what was originally referred to as the U.S. Military Asylum offered 6 acres of its larger tract to create the burying ground following the bloody Battle of Bull Run. The first burials were made on August 3, 1861. By 1864, the cemetery had reached its capacity, necessitating the creation of Arlington National Cemetery. However, limited burials continued, and the cemetery was finally expanded to 16 acres, in 1883. It was at that point that the Main Gate was built as part of a larger program of improvements and embellishments to the newly expanded cemetery.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N150
  • -  Survey number: HALS DC-51-A
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1883-1884 Initial Construction

Medium

  • Photo(s): 5
  • Measured Drawing(s): 6
  • Data Page(s): 13
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 1

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HALS DC-51-A

Source Collection

  • Historic American Landscapes Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • dc1168

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HALS DC-51-A
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

  • Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
    • If possible, include a printout of the photograph.
  • Drawings--All drawings are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
    • If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

In the rare case that a digital image for HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is not displaying online, select images for reproduction through one of these methods:

  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
    • Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
      • The entire group can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.
      • All the items in a particular medium (e.g., all drawings, all photographs) can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.

Access to Originals

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

    • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.
      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

    • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.
    • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.
  3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Landscapes Survey, Creator, Quartermaster General U.S. Office Of National Cemeteries, U.S. Department Of The Army, Montgomery C Meigs, Soldiers' Home National Cemetery, Composite Iron Works, R. H Matthews, et al., Ortiz, Jarob J, photographer. United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery, Main Gate, 21 Harewood Road Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC. Washington D.C. Washington, 2000. translateds by Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/dc1168/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Landscapes Survey, C., U.S. Office Of National Cemeteries, Q. G., U.S. Department Of The Army, Meigs, M. C., Soldiers' Home National Cemetery, Composite Iron Works [...] Schara, M., Ortiz, J. J., photographer. (2000) United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery, Main Gate, 21 Harewood Road Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC. Washington D.C. Washington, 2000. McPartland, M., trans Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/dc1168/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Landscapes Survey, Creator, et al., photographer by Ortiz, Jarob J. United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery, Main Gate, 21 Harewood Road Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC. trans by Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/dc1168/>.