U.S. Naval Torpedo Station, Alexandria

[1] On November 12, 1918, the U.S. Navy began constructing a torpedo factory in Alexandria, named the U.S.

Over the next five years it was responsible for the manufacture and maintenance of torpedoes, and it subsequently served as a munitions storage area until World War II.

As the demand for weapons dramatically increased during the war, it resumed production activity and was substantially expanded with ten new buildings.

[1] After World War II, production ceased, and the factory was used throughout the 1950s and 1960s by the Smithsonian Institution, which stored art and paleontological items there, and by Congress for storing documents.

In 1969, the president of the Art League, Marian Van Landingham, proposed to adapt the building into studios for working artists.