Main Sewerage Pumping Station

The Main Sewerage Pumping Station is an example of a high-style public works project tied to the City Beautiful Movement.

Though the Main Sewerage Pumping Station was constructed between 1904 and 1907, it dates back to 1889, when the President appointed a board of sanitary engineers to devise a plan for disposing of Washington's sewage. Nearly a decade later, the sanitation system proposed by the board began to be implemented, and planning for the pumping station was underway.

Designed by the architectural firm of C.A. Didden and Son with associated architect Oscar Vogt, the Main Pumping Station is one of the first buildings the city constructed following the adoption of the McMillan Plan and is an early and exceptional representative of Beaux-Arts public works buildings in the District. It is a striking brick building designed in a Beaux-Arts style, with late Renaissance Revival-style features included.

DC Inventory: January 26, 2012
National Register: May 24, 2012

Images

Map

1331 2nd Street, SE

Cite this Page

“Main Sewerage Pumping Station,” DC Historic Sites, accessed May 18, 2024, https://historicsites.dcpreservation.org/items/show/716.

Related Sources