Battery Decatur

One of eight Endicott batteries at Fort Washington Park

NPS/Claire Hassler

Quick Facts

OPEN TO PUBLIC:

No

Amenities

1 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

In 1885, Secretary of War William C. Endicott, recommended a new system of seacoast defense that employed heavy steel breech-loading rifled guns, large mortars, rapid fire guns and underwater mines.

Battery Decatur was the first modern gun position built for the defense of Washington, D.C.
Named for Commodore Stephen Decatur, one of America's earliest naval heroes, who rose to distinction in the War of Tripoli and the War of 1812.

Construction started: 1892
Completed: 1897
Cost: $128.492
Armament: Two 10-guns