The Old Soldiers’ Home Park Rd Gate … Closed Since 1955
(Image from the Feb. 2, 1955, Washington Post)
The gates into the Old Soldiers’ Home located at the intersection of Park Road and Park Place closed for the last time on Thursday, January 27, 1955. The main reason for their closing was the construction to the south on the Washington Hospital Center, which had necessitated the closing of some roads within the Soldiers’ Home grounds. About a year prior to the closing of the gate at Park Road, the construction had also closed the South Gate at 1st Street and the East Gate at Harewood road.
Below is the same view today. Permanent curbing and fencing was ultimately installed removing the most obvious signs of the former gate. Bushes and other plants have been allowed to grow up which obscure the view of the gatehouse.
Other than the gatehouse, the other hint of the former gate is the ornate 19th century wrought iron gate posts framing the former entrance. They’re easy to miss unless you are already aware of them. Photo of one of the gate posts with some detail shots can be found after the jump …
Tags: history and culture, Old Soldiers' Home, Park View
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
Park View, D.C. 
September 7, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Another great find, any idea what year they closed the gate at Rock Creek and Randolph?
September 7, 2009 at 5:22 pm
That I don’t know … but I’m happy to dig into it.
September 13, 2009 at 12:06 am
it’s a damn shame that this isn’t opened back up, but the federales never go in the direction of openness…
June 16, 2011 at 8:03 am
[…] Stopping at the intersection of Park Place and Park Road before turning west, this would be an ideal location to address the use of the Soldiers’ Home as a public park before the gate was permanently closed in 1955. […]
August 2, 2018 at 9:36 am
[…] The Soldiers’ Home is a gem and one that many residents would like to see greater access too. When the surrounding neighborhoods of Park View and Petworth were constructed, the grounds were open to the public. By the 1920s restrictions on use began to appear and with the creation of the Washington Hospital Center in the 1950s (built on land originally belonging to the Soldiers’ Home), the home began closing access to the home to prevent drivers from cutting through the grounds. This included the closing of the Randolph Gate in 1953 and closing the Park Road gate in 1955. […]