Washington Navy Yard: Maker of Weapons ,
, the Navy Yard’s ship building dwindled. The Anacostia River was too shallow and remote from the open sea for building large vessels.By the s weapons production dominated activities. In the Naval Gun Factory was established. During World War II it was the world’s largest, producing everything from precision gun sights to enormous -inch battleship guns.By , howev- er,missiles and aircraft made elsewhere decreased demand for guns,so the factories closed.The yard became an administrative and supply center,with public museums and parks.Operations slowed until 2001,when the Navy adapted dozens of man- ufacturing spaces for offices,and the number of employees doubled.The yard’s white brick wall marks its original northern boundary.The yard grew from its original acres to acres at its peak in and then dropped back to acres in , after acres became the Southeast Federal Center. The “castle” across from the Navy Yard is the old Navy Yard Car Barn, built in by the Wash- ington and Georgetown Railroad Company for a brief experiment with cable cars.Cable cars trav- eled between the Navy Yard and Georgetown, pulled by a moving cable buried in a slot between the rails.Capitol Hill resident George J.Butler recalled how pranksters would “use a hooked wire to engage the cable,and then swoop down the street on roller skates until some killjoy policeman hove into sight.”In cable cars were discontin- ued,and the car barn was devoted to electric streetcars.
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