The Marine Corps' oldest continuously occupied building on Capitol Hill
801 8th Street SE, Washington, DC 20003
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
The Commandant's House is a private residence not open to the public. The Marine Barracks hosts free, reservation-based Friday Evening Parades in summer.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved parade ground and sidewalks
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1806 · Oldest active post in the Marine Corps · Oldest continuously occupied building in the Corps · National Register of Historic Places
Marine Barracks Washington was established in 1801 after President Thomas Jefferson and Lieutenant Colonel William Ward Burrows, the second Commandant, rode the city together to choose a site within marching distance of the Capitol and the Navy Yard. The barracks at 8th and I Streets SE became the home of the Marine Band and remains the oldest active post in the Corps.
The Commandant's House, completed in 1806, sits at the north end of the parade ground and has been the official residence of every Marine Commandant since. It is the oldest continuously occupied building in the Marine Corps. According to Corps history, the house was spared when British forces burned much of Washington in August 1814, one of the few public-associated buildings left standing, though accounts of exactly why vary.
For more than two centuries the barracks has been the ceremonial home of the Corps. It hosts the Marine Band, the Drum and Bugle Corps, and the Silent Drill Platoon, and is the site of the long-running Friday Evening Parade held during the summer months.
The barracks and Commandant's House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Because the house is an active residence and the post is a working military installation, public access is limited to the reservation-based parades and to viewing from the surrounding Capitol Hill streets.
Sources
The Commandant's House carries one of the older haunting traditions in Washington, repeated in regional ghost roundups and Marine Corps anecdote. Residents and staff over the years have described footsteps in empty rooms, the rustle of papers, and the impression of a figure in early-Corps uniform, often identified in the lore as an early Commandant.
Because the house has been continuously occupied since 1806 and is a private residence, these accounts come from people who have lived or worked there rather than from public investigation, and they have not been independently documented. No paranormal television program has produced a featured episode inside the residence.
The stories persist partly because of the building's age and unbroken occupancy. Visitors cannot enter the house, so the lore is encountered secondhand, through Capitol Hill ghost-history accounts and the reputation that has built up around the Corps' oldest home.
Notable Entities
During summer the Marine Barracks hosts free Friday Evening Parades featuring the United States Marine Band and the Silent Drill Platoon on the historic parade deck. Seating is by reservation through the barracks website. The Commandant's House overlooks the parade ground but is a private residence not open for tours.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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