Quarters A, Washington Navy Yard
a.k.a. Tingey House;Commandant's House
E of Main Gate and S of M St., SE., in the Navy Yard, Washington, DCThis notion of quarters for the Commandant in the Washington Navy Yard was again proposed in a February 7, 1807, letter from Tingey to Secretary of the Navy Smith in which he asks that "Mr. Latrobe be directed to furnish a plan" for such a house. This building, however, was never constructed, and only after Cassin was ordered to assume command of the Navy Yard at Gosport was Tingey able to move into Quarters A, in August of 1812.
While Quarters A's construction date is now known, its architect remains a mystery. The house was constructed before Benjamin Latrobe completed his master plan of the Yard, and in a February 2, 1813, letter to Secretary of the Navy William Jones, he states that he is not responsible for the house's design. The only other architect known to have worked in the Yard during that early period was the firm of Lovering and Dyer. Another house in the vicinity of Lovering's design--The Maples erected in 1795-96--does resemble Quarters A in its principal elements. It is possible that Lovering designed Quarters A, but no documentary evidence to support this attribution has yet been found.
Tingey House derives its name from the Washington Navy Yard's first Commandant, Thomas Tingey, who lived in the house from 1812 until his death in 1829. In the small town society of an infant city, the head of one of its major institutions had a major role to play. Tingey was a member of the 1802 committee which successfully petitioned Congress to authorize a local government for the city, and he was later an organizer of the city's first publicly-supported school and Congressional Cemetery.
Captain Tingey took an active part in Washington's economic activities beyond his role as Commandant of the Yard. He served as an agent for the trustees for Morris, Greenleaf, and Nicholson, the most ambitious of the city's early real estate speculators, and "bought and sold lots in the Navy Yard Section." He purchased stock in the local canal and bridge companies and was a director of the Commercial Company. Tingey was also prominent in the Washington social world. He was an organizer of Madison's first Inaugural Ball in 1809 and included James and Dolly Madison, John Quincy Adams, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Labrobe, and Dr. and Mrs. William Thornton among his friends.
The Tingey House has served as the residence of all of the Navy Yard's Commandant's from Tingey to the present time, including in its list of inhabitants such illustrious figures as Captain John Dahlgren, the renowned naval gun designer. A master plan done for the Washington Navy Yard in 1966 proposes that the house continue to play this historic role
Local significance of the building:
While Quarters A's construction date is now known, its architect remains a mystery. The house was constructed before Benjamin Latrobe completed his master plan of the Yard, and in a February 2, 1813, letter to Secretary of the Navy William Jones, he states that he is not responsible for the house's design. The only other architect known to have worked in the Yard during that early period was the firm of Lovering and Dyer. Another house in the vicinity of Lovering's design--The Maples erected in 1795-96--does resemble Quarters A in its principal elements. It is possible that Lovering designed Quarters A, but no documentary evidence to support this attribution has yet been found.
Tingey House derives its name from the Washington Navy Yard's first Commandant, Thomas Tingey, who lived in the house from 1812 until his death in 1829. In the small town society of an infant city, the head of one of its major institutions had a major role to play. Tingey was a member of the 1802 committee which successfully petitioned Congress to authorize a local government for the city, and he was later an organizer of the city's first publicly-supported school and Congressional Cemetery.
Captain Tingey took an active part in Washington's economic activities beyond his role as Commandant of the Yard. He served as an agent for the trustees for Morris, Greenleaf, and Nicholson, the most ambitious of the city's early real estate speculators, and "bought and sold lots in the Navy Yard Section." He purchased stock in the local canal and bridge companies and was a director of the Commercial Company. Tingey was also prominent in the Washington social world. He was an organizer of Madison's first Inaugural Ball in 1809 and included James and Dolly Madison, John Quincy Adams, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Labrobe, and Dr. and Mrs. William Thornton among his friends.
The Tingey House has served as the residence of all of the Navy Yard's Commandant's from Tingey to the present time, including in its list of inhabitants such illustrious figures as Captain John Dahlgren, the renowned naval gun designer. A master plan done for the Washington Navy Yard in 1966 proposes that the house continue to play this historic role
Military; Architecture; Social History
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
About National Register Listings
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.
The original design of the city was influenced by a French architect: Pierre Charles L'Enfant, a French architect and engineer, was hired by George Washington to design the city in 1791. L'Enfant's design was influenced by the layout of several European cities, including Paris and Versailles.