{"nrhp_refnum":"89000932","name":"Pentagon, The (Additional Documentation)","other_names":["Pentagon Office Building Complex"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Washington Blvd. (VA 27), Richmond Hwy. (VA 110), Shirley Hwy. (I 395)","address_restricted":false,"city":"Arlington","county":"Arlington County","state":"VA","lat":38.871357813500055,"lon":-77.0562732697453,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-07-27","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1992-10-05","areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Engineering","Military","Architecture","Politics/Government","Other"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Pentagon is a five-sided federal office building complex in Arlington, Virginia, built between August 1941 and January 1943 to house U.S. military command functions. The documentation covers its five outer facades, central courtyard, two entrance terraces and its pentagonal shape.","why_significant":"The documentation presents the Pentagon as a leading example of Stripped Classicism, a blend of Classical and Modern design used for major federal buildings from the 1930s to 1950s. It also notes the speed of construction, 17 months, during World War II, and its role as a centralized military headquarters. The nominated elements are those exterior parts that remain largely unaltered.","narrative":"Rising in southern Arlington, Virginia, between the Pentagon Lagoon and Arlington National Cemetery, this five-sided building was conceived in July 1941 as a single headquarters for expanding U.S. military operations. Architects George Edwin Bergstrom and David J. Witmer designed it, and construction ran from August 1941 to January 1943. Each outer wall is 921.6 feet long, and the building covers 29 acres, with a 5-acre central courtyard. Its reinforced concrete frame is faced with gray Indiana limestone, a choice made at President Franklin D. Roosevelt's direction. The design is an example of Stripped Classicism, with simplified Tuscan-style colonnades, plain entablatures and symmetrical facades. The documentation covers the five outer facades, the courtyard and its facade, the Mall and River entrance terraces, and the pentagonal form, because these elements remain largely original. Interiors, parking areas, roads and surrounding facilities have been substantially modified since 1943.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"George Edwin Bergstrom and David J. Witmer, chief architects (civilian architects employed by the Quartermaster Corps' Construction Division)","architectural_style":"Modern Movement / Stripped Classicism","criteria":[],"status_note":"Currently in government office and military use; interiors extensively remodelled, while the exterior facades retain their original appearance.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:58.145169-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/91/6789/41678991/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/89000932_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000932/2814c5141e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000932/2814c5141e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Touch Of Light","credit_html":"Touch Of Light, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Pentagon,_Headquarters_of_the_US_Department_of_Defense_(cropped).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41678991","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pentagon","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11208"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/arlington-county/pentagon-the-additional-documentation-89000932/"}