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Chronological List of District Heating
Systems in the United States |
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| Naval Academy Gas and Steam Plant in 1860-from Digital Maryland | Gas and Steam Plant in the late 1860s from Naval Historical Center |
Cornelius K. Stribling became superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis on July 1, 1850, shortly after its new name had been adopted. Stribling undertook to reorganize the school and improve the physical plant. One of his improvements was to request funding for a plant to produce gas and hot water to heat and light the academy's buildings, which was approved by Congress in 1852. At the time hot water heating was virtually unknown in this country, but Stribling may have been familiar with or at least aware of the hot water system built by Thomas Winans for his Alexandroffsky estate in Baltimore, which used natural circulation to heat its twenty buildings. The academy's campus covered a fairly large area with more growth anticipated, and establishing the elevations required to a large natural circulation system would have been very challenging, if not impossible. A conversion to steam was made and the plant was supplying light and heat by late 1853.
Although congressional budget documents contain multiple references to the gas and steam plant over time, only a few brief mentions appear in Baltimore papers (no Annapolis papers from 1853 are known to exist). An 1872 history of Annapolis includes a brief mention of gas and steam being introduced in 1853, but the first known mention in engineering journals appearing in a British publication in 1889, with a second in 1892.
When Lockport inventor Birdsill Holly announced his introduction of commercial district steam heating in 1877 he mentioned that many earlier systems had existed, but he did not mention any of them.
The academy chose not to engage a contractor to install the system but instead hired mechanics and laborers to install the system in 1853. The U.S. Navy had substantial boiler and steam engine experience by this time.
The academy installed a high-temperature hot water system that began operation in June 1969.
References
1852 Report
of the Secretary of the Navy, December 4, 1852, H. Doc. 1,
32nd Congress, 2nd Session, Part 2, Volume 1
Page 446: The proposed mode of heating the buildings at the Naval
Academy with hot water, and of lighting the Observatory with gas, are
recommended by their superior safety and eventual economy.
Page 454: Estimate of amounts required for the erection, warming and
repairs of buildings, and for the improvement and preservation of the
grounds, and for cortingencies, at the Naval Academy, for the year ending
June 30, 1854.
For steam-boilers and necessary fixtures for warming by steam the
midshipmen's quarters, recitation and mess-halls, chapel and observatory,
and to afford steam for cooking, washing and drying clothes. -- $10,000
1853 Letter
from Walworth & Nason to Commander C.K. Stirbling,
Superintendent, January 12, 1853.
The estimate for the Steam apparatus, which has been prepared in detail,
includes the whole range of buildings from the Laboratories to the Chapel,
Steam Wash Room, and drying room. Tanks for hot and cold water for
the use of the wash room and bathing rooms, and amounts to $10,500, which
sum may be somewhat modified by changes in the boilers in the washing and
bathing department, and in the mode of conveying steam to the buildings,
but we consider is large enough to meet any contingency. In view of
the extraordinary distances through which steam has to be carried to reach
the most distant point it may be questioned whether each of the buildings
may be not more economically fitted out and warmed by a separate hot water
apparatus with pipes throughout the rooms.
1853 Letter
from Commander C.K. Stirbling, Superintendent, to Commodore Francis H.
Gregory, Commandant, Navy Yard Boston, January 29, 1853.
I
1853 10
Stat. 220 - An Act making Appropriations for the Naval Service for the
year ending the thirtieth of June, one thousand eight hundred and
fifty-four, March 3, 1853.
For improvement and repair of buildings and grounds and support of the
Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, forty-six thousand and fifty-nine
dollars;
For purchase of land, extending walls, making new roads and wharf,
building and furnishing hospital, and changing the fronts of houses, at
the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, thirty-eight thousand dollars;
1853 "Affairs
at the State Capital," The Baltimore Sun, December 6, 1853,
Page 4.
The church at the Naval Academy is approaching completion. The rooms are
now heated and lighted from the gas-house. It is proposed to erect a
laundry and other convenient "fixens" for the academy.
1853 Letter
from Wm. Rogers to Commander L.M. Goldsborough, Superintendent,
December 9, 1853.
Explanation of coal consumption.
1853 Letter
from Wm. Rogers to Commander L.M. Goldsborough, Superintendent,
December 11, 1853
The steam is very abundant. The boiler was calculated to heat all
the buildings of the institution (except the professors' houses) and have
enough steam for a laundry (a large quantity) and for Machine Shop ? It is
more than sufficient for these purposes. The steam at 1170 feet from
the boiler issues from the pipe hot and dry. I would now be willing
to carry steam for heating much further then we now do at this distance if
it is already carried it much farther then has been attempted in other
places. Very Respectfully, Wm. Rogers Hopkins, Assistant Professor.
1854 "Affairs
at the State Capital," The Baltimore Sun," January 3, 1854,
Page 1
We give below a list of the buildings erected at the U.S. Naval Academy
for the year 1853: A gas-house, (on the margin of the grounds;)
recitation hall for the corps of cadets; mess saloon; two Professors'
quarters; a church; and sea-wall environing the grounds. The church
is to be heated from the gas-house, which now furnishes the recitation
hall and cadets quarters through pipes, a distance of 800 feet.
Consequent upon the scarcity of work and the lateness of the season, it
has been deemed proper to dispense with 30 mechanics and 25 laborers.
1854 Letter
to Commander L.M. Goldsborough, Superintendent, from several faculty
members, February 7, 1854
Detailed report listing shortcomings of the steam system and recommended
solutions.
1854 Letter
from Wm. Rogers to Commander L.M. Goldsborough, Superintendent, July
8, 1854.
Outlines proposed solutions for issues brought up in February 11, 1854
report.
1862 History
of the United States Naval Academy, Edward Chauncey Marshall
(March 1862)
Page 51: Near Fort Severn are the steam and gas works of the
institution. They are small and are economically constructed, but are of
sufficient capacity to light and heat the whole establishment. Twelve
thousand cubic feet of gas could be made daily.
Page 61-62: The school-ship of the Academy, first the Plymouth and
afterwards the Constitution, was securely moored near the fort.
This war-worn glorious old hulk was attached to the Academy two years ago,
and the plan, of having permanently a school-ship which was then first
adopted, has been found to be an admirable one. When stationed at
Annapolis, she was connected with the shore by a light bridge, which was
supported upon piles, and upon this bridge pipes were also laid for the
gas and steam which lighted and warmed the ship in the most perfect and
economical manner. It was doubted, at first, whether steam could be
carried so far in pipes which were so much exposed, but the success of the
experiment was complete.
1862 Answer of Wm. Rogers Hopkins to inquiry about loyalty that he declined to answer, July 7, 1862
1862 Letter
from Abraham Lincoln to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, July
21, 1862
Hon. Sec. of Navy Executive Mansion, Washington, July 21, 1862.
My dear Sir.
I am induced to think it probable that Mr. William R. Hopkins, lately
dismissed from the place of Assistant Professor, in the Naval School, is
an entirely loyal man. I shall be glad if you will investigate the case so
as to be fully satisfied yourself; and if satisfied that he is loyal,
restore him to his place. Yours truly A. LINCOLN
Lieutenant William R. Hopkins was assistant professor of engineering at
Annapolis. Welles endorsed on the back of the letter: "Decline to
reappoint Mr. H. with regret but he has conducted himself in a manner that
precludes [the?] idea of his restoration with his former associates. W"'
1872 The
History of Annapolis, the Capital of Maryland: The State House, Its
Various Public Buildings ... Together with a Full History and
Description of the United States Naval Academy from Its Origin to the
Present Time, by Owen M. Taylor
Page 33: Gas and steam for heating were introduced in 1853, the
works for the same being built at an original cost of $28,044.28, and
certain additions afterwards made at a cost of $8,500.00.
1889 "The
District Distribution of Steam in the United States," by Charles
Edward Emery, Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil
Engineers 97:196-290 (March 1889)
Page 196: As early as 1853, steam was distributed from a central
station through cast-iron pipes, to various separate buildings of the
United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. The system was
reconstructed with wrought-iron pipe, and extended in the years 1865 to
1868. The pipes were laid in connection with the gas and water-pipes in
small covered conduits, by the most direct routes, indiscriminately under
walks and greensward, the outlets being taken off through common tees.
Stuffing-boxes were applied in the longer lengths, and to prevent the
sleeves of the same from being blown out, clamps were placed on the pipes
with distance bolts; these frequently went to the extreme limit, so that
expansion was provided for at some points by the bending of the pipes in
the conduits, in which there was plenty of room. Such an aggregation of
parts was evidently not adapted for general use.
1892 "Transmission
of Power to a Distance," by Thomas Ludwick Miller, Journal of
the Liverpool Polytechnic Society 55:41-64 (1892)
Page 57: As early as 1853 steam was distributed from a central station
through cast iron pipes to various separate buildings of the United States
Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. This plant, however, was used
more for heating purposes than for power supply.
1995 The Evolution of Heat, Light, and Power Systems at the U.S. Naval Academy: 1845-1995, by Morris A. Pierce, Presented at the Twelfth Naval History Symposium, 26-27 October 1995.
© 2024-2025 Morris A. Pierce
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