The Pentagon
A view of the Pentagon from above the Potomac River in 2018
General information
Architectural style: Classical Revival, Modern, and Stripped Classicism
Location: Richmond Hwy./SR 110 at I-395, Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Coordinates: 38°52′15″N 77°03′18″W
Construction started: September 11, 1941
Completed: January 15, 1943
Cost: $83 million (equivalent to $1.36 billion in 2024)
Owner: United States Department of Defense
Height (roof): 77 ft (23 m)
Floor count: 7 (2 underground)
Floor area: 6,636,360 sq ft (620,000 m²)
Design and construction
Architects: George Bergstrom, David J. Witmer
Main contractor: John McShain, Inc.
Other information
Parking: 67 acres (27 ha)
Pentagon Office Building Complex
NRHP reference No.: 89000932
VLR No.: 000-0072
Added to NRHP: July 27, 1988
Designated VLR: April 18, 1989
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase "The Pentagon" is often used as a metonym for the Department of Defense and its leadership.
The building was designed by American architect George Bergstrom and built by contractor John McShain. Ground was broken on September 11, 1941, and the building was dedicated on January 15, 1943. General Brehon Somervell provided the major impetus to gain Congressional approval for the project. Colonel Leslie Groves oversaw the project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Pentagon is the world's second-largest office building, with about 6.5 million square feet (600,000 m²) of floor space, of which 3.7 million square feet (340,000 m²) are used as offices. It has five sides, five floors above ground, two basement levels, and five ring corridors per floor, with a total of 17.5 miles (28.2 km) of corridors surrounding a central five-acre (2.0 ha) pentagonal plaza. About 23,000 military and civilian employees work in the Pentagon, along with roughly 3,000 non-defense support personnel.
In 2001, the Pentagon was damaged during the September 11 attacks. Five Al-Qaeda hijackers flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the western side of the building, killing themselves and 184 other people — 59 on the airplane and 125 inside the Pentagon. It was the first significant foreign attack on federal facilities in the Washington, D.C., area since the Burning of Washington during the War of 1812. Following the attacks, the western side of the building was repaired, and a small indoor memorial and chapel were added at the point of impact. In 2009, an outdoor memorial dedicated to the Pentagon victims of the September 11 attacks opened directly southwest of the building.
Layout and facilities
The Pentagon building spans 28.7 acres (116,000 m²; 11.6 ha), with an additional 5.1 acres (21,000 m²; 2.1 ha) as a central courtyard.
Starting with the north side and moving clockwise, its five façade entrances are the Mall Terrace, the River Terrace, the Concourse (or Metro Station), the South Parking, and the Pentagon Army Heliport. On the north side, the Mall Entrance features a portico leading to a 600-foot-long (180 m) terrace used for ceremonies. The River Entrance, with a portico projecting twenty feet (6 m), is on the northeast side overlooking the lagoon and facing Washington. A stepped terrace leads down to the lagoon; a landing dock ferried personnel between Bolling Air Force Base and the Pentagon until the late 1960s. The main entrance for visitors is on the southeast side, where the Pentagon Metro station and bus station are also located.
A concourse on the southeast side of the second floor contains a mini-shopping mall. The south parking lot adjoins the southwest façade, and the west side faces Washington Boulevard.
The concentric rings are designated from the center out as "A" through "E," with additional "F" and "G" rings in the basement. "E" Ring offices are the only ones with outside views and are generally occupied by senior officials. Office numbers go clockwise around each ring and have two parts: a nearest-corridor number (1 to 10) followed by a bay number (00 to 99), so office numbers range from 100 to 1099. Corridors radiate out from the central courtyard, with corridor 1 beginning at the Concourse's south end. Each numbered radial corridor intersects with the corresponding numbered group of offices. For example, corridor 5 divides the 500 series office block. Historical displays are located throughout the building, particularly in the "A" and "E" rings.
Subterranean floors are lettered "B" for Basement and "M" for Mezzanine. The concourse is on the second floor at the Metro entrance. Above-ground floors are numbered 1 to 5. Room numbers indicate the floor, concentric ring, and office number (nearest corridor number followed by bay number). For instance, office 2B315 is on the second floor, B ring, near corridor 3; to reach it, one would go to the second floor, proceed to the A (innermost) ring, take corridor 3, then turn left on ring B to bay 15.
It is possible to walk between any two points in the Pentagon in less than ten minutes, though the optimal route may involve a brisk walk, routing through the open-air central courtyard, or both. The complex includes eating and exercise facilities as well as meditation and prayer rooms.
Just south of the Pentagon are Pentagon City and Crystal City — extensive shopping, business, and high-density residential districts in Arlington. Arlington National Cemetery lies to the north. The Pentagon is surrounded by the complex Pentagon road network.
The Pentagon has six Washington, D.C., ZIP Codes despite its location in Arlington County, Virginia. The U.S. secretary of defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the four service branches each have their own ZIP Code.
History
Background
Until the Pentagon was built, the U.S. Department of War was headquartered in the Munitions Building, a temporary structure erected during World War I along Constitution Avenue on the National Mall. The War Department was spread across additional temporary buildings on the National Mall and dozens of other sites in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. In the late 1930s, a new War Department Building was constructed at 21st and C Streets in Foggy Bottom, but it did not solve the department's space problem and later became the headquarters of the Department of State.
When World War II broke out in Europe in 1939, the War Department expanded rapidly. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson found the situation unacceptable, with the Munitions Building overcrowded and offices spread across multiple sites. Stimson told President Franklin D. Roosevelt in May 1941 that the War Department needed more space. On July 17, 1941, a congressional hearing organized by Representative Clifton Woodrum (D-VA) addressed proposals for new War Department buildings. Woodrum pressed Brigadier General Eugene Reybold for an "overall solution." Reybold agreed to report back within five days, and the War Department tasked its construction chief, General Brehon Somervell, with developing a plan.
Planning
Officials agreed the new building, designated Federal Office Building No. 1, should be constructed in Arlington County, Virginia. Requirements included no more than four stories and minimal steel usage. The building would therefore sprawl over a large area. Possible sites included the Department of Agriculture's Arlington Experimental Farm (adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery) and the obsolete Hoover Field site.
The first chosen site, Arlington Farms, had an irregular pentagonal shape, so the building was planned accordingly as an irregular pentagon. Concerned that the building might obstruct views from Arlington Cemetery, President Roosevelt selected the Hoover Airport site instead. The building retained its pentagonal layout because Roosevelt liked it and a major redesign would have been costly. Freed from the constraints of the Arlington Farms site, the building was modified as a regular pentagon, resembling star forts from the gunpowder age.
On July 28, 1941, Congress authorized funding for a new War Department building in Arlington. President Roosevelt approved the Hoover Airport site on September 2. In late July 1941, Somervell selected contractors including John McShain, Inc. of Philadelphia (builder of Washington National Airport, the Jefferson Memorial, and the National Naval Medical Center), along with Wise Contracting Company, Inc. and Doyle and Russell, both from Virginia. Construction required an additional 287 acres (1.16 km²) acquired for $2.2 million (equivalent to $36.1 million in 2024). The Hell's Bottom neighborhood — pawnshops, factories, about 150 homes, and other buildings near Columbia Pike — was cleared for the project. Later, 300 acres (1.2 km²) were transferred to Arlington National Cemetery and Fort Myer, leaving 280 acres (1.1 km²) for the Pentagon.
Construction
Contracts totaling $31,100,000 (equivalent to $510 million in 2024) were finalized with McShain and other contractors on September 11, 1941, and ground was broken the same day. Somervell required structural design to accommodate floor loads of up to 150 psf (7.2 kPa) in case the building became a records storage facility after the war. Minimal steel was used due to shortages; instead, the Pentagon was built as a reinforced concrete structure using 680,000 tons of sand dredged from the Potomac River. A lagoon was created beneath the Pentagon's river entrance. Concrete ramps replaced elevators to conserve steel. Indiana limestone was used for the façade.
Architectural and structural design proceeded simultaneously with construction. Initial drawings were provided in early October 1941, and most design work was completed by June 1, 1942. Sometimes construction got ahead of design. Pressure intensified after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, with Somervell demanding 1 million ft² (9.3 ha) of space be ready for occupation by April 1, 1943. Chief architect Bergstrom resigned in April 1942 after being charged with unrelated improper conduct as president of the American Institute of Architects; David J. Witmer replaced him on April 11. Construction was completed on January 15, 1943.
Soil conditions on the Potomac floodplain presented challenges, with elevations ranging from 10 to 40 feet (3.0 to 12.2 m) above sea level. Two retaining walls and cast-in-place piles were used. Construction finished in about 16 months at a total cost of $83 million (equivalent to $1.36 billion in 2024). The building's approximate height is 77 ft (23 m), and each of the five sides is 921 ft (281 m) in length.
The building was constructed wedge by wedge; each wedge was occupied as soon as completed, even as construction continued on the others.
The Pentagon was originally designed in accordance with Virginia's racial segregation laws, with separate eating and lavatory facilities for white and Black persons. Lavatories were side by side, but dining areas for Black employees were located in the basement. Segregation in the cafeteria ended in May 1942 after Black ordnance worker Jimmy Harold, a draftsman and engineer, refused to eat in the Blacks-only cafeteria. He and other Black workers ate in the whites-only cafeteria for several days until a white security guard beat Harold. Judge William Hastie, the Black civilian aide to Secretary Stimson, secured an investigation. General Brehon B. Somervell ordered the "discontinuance of any enforced segregation of negro employees in the cafeterias." When President Roosevelt visited before the dedication, he ordered removal of "Whites Only" signs. When Virginia's governor protested, the Roosevelt administration responded that the Pentagon, though on Virginia land, was under federal jurisdiction. Thus, the Pentagon became the only building in Virginia where racial segregation laws were not enforced (those laws were not overturned until 1965). The side-by-side restrooms still exist but have been integrated since the building opened.
Hall of Heroes
On the building's main concourse is the Hall of Heroes, opened in 1968 and dedicated to the more than 3,460 recipients of the Medal of Honor, the United States' highest military decoration. The three versions of the Medal of Honor — Army, Sea Service (Marine Corps, Navy, Coast Guard), and Air Force (Air Force and Space Force) — are on display along with recipients' names. The Hall is also used for promotions, retirements, and other ceremonies.
Renovation
From 1998 to 2011, the Pentagon was completely gutted and reconstructed in phases to bring it up to modern standards and improve security and efficiency. Asbestos was removed, and all office windows were sealed.
Originally, most Pentagon office space consisted of open bays spanning an entire ring, using cross-ventilation from operable windows instead of air conditioning. Gradually, bays were subdivided into private offices with window air conditioning units. After renovations, the new space returned to open office bays and a Universal Space Plan of standardized furniture and partitions.
Incidents
Protests
During the late 1960s, the Pentagon became a focal point for protests against the Vietnam War. On February 15, 1967, 2,500 women from Women Strike for Peace demonstrated outside Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara's office. In May 1967, 20 demonstrators held a four-day sit-in outside the Joint Chiefs of Staff's office before being arrested. On October 21, 1967, about 35,000 anti-war protesters organized by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam gathered for the "March on the Pentagon." They were met by some 2,500 armed soldiers. A famous photograph from the march shows George Harris placing carnations into soldiers' gun barrels. The protest concluded with an attempt to "exorcise" the building.
On May 19, 1972, the Weather Underground Organization bombed a fourth-floor women's restroom in retaliation for the Nixon administration's bombing of Hanoi.
On March 17, 2007, between 4,000 and 15,000 people protested the Iraq War by marching from the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon's north parking lot.
September 11 attacks
On September 11, 2001 — the 60th anniversary of the Pentagon's groundbreaking — five al-Qaeda hijackers took control of American Airlines Flight 77, en route from Washington Dulles to Los Angeles, and crashed the Boeing 757 into the western side of the Pentagon at 9:37 am EDT. The impact severely damaged and partially collapsed the outer ring of one wing. At the time, the Pentagon was under renovation; only about 800 people were in the affected area instead of the usual 4,500. The hit section, near the Heliport façade, was the best prepared for such an attack due to renovations following the Oklahoma City bombing. It was the only area with a sprinkler system, had blast-resistant windows (2 inches thick, 2,500 pounds each), steel reinforcement bolted through all five floors, and newly built exits and fire doors. This reinforcement kept the section from collapsing for 30 minutes, allowing hundreds to escape.
Contractors already involved in the renovation were tasked with rebuilding the damaged sections under the "Phoenix Project," aiming to have the outermost offices occupied by September 11, 2002.
A small indoor memorial and chapel were added at the point of impact. For the fifth anniversary, a memorial of 184 beams of light shone from the central courtyard — one for each victim of the attack. An American flag is hung each year on the damaged side, and the side is illuminated with blue lights at night. An outdoor Pentagon Memorial, opened to the public on September 11, 2008, consists of a two-acre (8,100 m²) park with 184 benches aligned along Flight 77's flight path according to the victims' ages, from 3 to 71.
May 2023 bombing hoax
October 2025 press credential controversy
In October 2025, the Pentagon issued new directives from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stating that reporters would only be allowed to cover pre-approved news. All but one publication forfeited their press credentials in response. The outlets that rejected the new requirements included ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, Fox News, CNN, Newsmax, The Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Atlantic, The Washington Times, Financial Times, Politico, and NPR. The only outlet that did not forfeit its credentials was One America News Network.
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External Resources
F&Q
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About The Pentagon
Why was the Pentagon built?
The Pentagon was built because the United States Department of War (now the Department of Defense) had outgrown its existing offices. During World War II, the department was spread across dozens of temporary buildings in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson found the situation unacceptable, and Congress authorized funding for a single, unified headquarters. The Pentagon was constructed to house the entire department under one roof.
Where is the Pentagon located?
The Pentagon is located in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Its specific address is near the intersection of Richmond Highway (SR 110) and I-395. It is adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery to the north and near the neighborhoods of Pentagon City and Crystal City to the south.
What is the Pentagon famous for?
The Pentagon is famous for several reasons:
- It is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense and a global symbol of the U.S. military.
- It is the world's second-largest office building, with about 6.5 million square feet of floor space.
- Its unique five-sided, five-ring design.
- On September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 77 was crashed into the building by al-Qaeda hijackers, killing 184 people. The building has since become a site of memorial and remembrance.
When was the Pentagon built?
Construction began on September 11, 1941, and the building was completed on January 15, 1943. The entire project took approximately 16 months.
What is the Pentagon used for?
The Pentagon serves as the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. About 23,000 military and civilian employees work there, along with roughly 3,000 non-defense support personnel. It houses the offices of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and all four military service branches. The building also contains eating facilities, exercise areas, meditation and prayer rooms, and the Hall of Heroes (dedicated to Medal of Honor recipients).
What is the Pentagon?
The Pentagon is a large, five-sided office building in Arlington County, Virginia, that serves as the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. The phrase "The Pentagon" is also commonly used as a metonym (a substitute name) for the Department of Defense and its leadership.
What is the Pentagon in the USA?
In the United States, the Pentagon refers to both the physical building and, by extension, the U.S. military establishment. It is the administrative nerve center of the country's armed forces. The building is a National Register of Historic Places landmark and a powerful national symbol, often mentioned in news, politics, and popular culture in relation to defense and military affairs.
United States Department of Defense / United States Defense Department
These are the same entity. The United States Department of Defense (DoD) is the federal executive department responsible for coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the U.S. government directly related to national security and the military. The Pentagon is the DoD's headquarters building. The two terms are often used interchangeably in casual speech.
Tours of the Pentagon
The article does not provide current tour information. However, historically, the Pentagon has offered limited public tours. For the most up-to-date information on visitor access, security requirements, and tour availability, you should check the official Pentagon website or contact the Pentagon's tour office directly, as procedures have changed significantly since the September 11 attacks.
Where to watch "Pentagon Wars" / "The Pentagon Wars" movie names
is a 1998 HBO comedy-drama film directed by Richard Benjamin, starring Kelsey Grammer and Cary Elwes. It is based on the book of the same name by Colonel James G. Burton.
- The film satirizes the military's weapons procurement process, specifically the development of the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
- Where to watch: As of 2026, it is frequently available on streaming services such as Max (formerly HBO Max), Amazon Prime Video (rent or buy), Apple TV, and sometimes on YouTube. Availability varies by region and changes over time.