Oldest Post of the Corps ,
.., is the oldest continuously manned post in the U.S. Marine Corps.The original installation was designed by architect George Hadfield in .He created a central parade ground and housing for enlisted men and officers and the Comman- dant’s Quarters,(in mid-block on G Street),an elegant -room house.Later enhanced by a mansard roof,the house is the only remaining original structure. When the U.S.government moved from Philadelphia to Washington City in , the Marine Corps came also,in order to protect fed- eral buildings.At first the Marines camped in Georgetown and on E Street,NW.Then in March President Thomas Jefferson,on horseback and accompanied by Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel William Ward Burrows, surveyed the city for a place for a permanent Marine Barracks. They chose this site because it was near the Navy Yard and was within easy marching distance of the Capitol and the President’s House in case of trouble. During the War of ,the Marine Barracks was one of the few public structures not destroyed by the British invaders.One local legend says that British General Ross,after witnessing the valiant Marines at the Battle of Bladensburg,ordered the complex spared “as a gesture of soldierly respect.” The Marines defended Washington in the War of and have fought on land and sea in every U.S. conflict since.
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