The Pentagon

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The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. It was built quickly during World War II. Ground was broken on September 11, 1941, and the building was dedicated on January 15, 1943. It was designed by the architect George Bergstrom and built by the contractor John McShain.

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At a glance

Country: United States
Location: Arlington, Virginia, USA
Built: 1943
Height: 24 m
Type: Government building

Quick answers

Where is The Pentagon?

The Pentagon is in Arlington, Virginia, USA, United States.

When was The Pentagon built?

The Pentagon was built in 1943.

How tall is The Pentagon?

The Pentagon is about 24 m tall.

Headquarters of the US Department of Defense: five concentric pentagonal rings, one of the world's largest office buildings.

With about 6.5 million square feet of floor space, it is the third largest office building in the world. It has five sides, five floors above ground, two basement levels, and five ring corridors on each floor, with a total of 17.5 miles (28.2 km) of corridors around a central five-acre pentagon-shaped plaza. About 23,000 military and civilian people work there, plus about 3,000 support staff. People often say 'the Pentagon' to mean the whole department.

Who made it happen

General Brehon Somervell pushed hard to get Congress to approve the project. Colonel Leslie Groves oversaw it for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which supervised the construction. The building spans 28.7 acres, plus an extra 5.1 acres of central courtyard. It was built on a tight schedule because the country was at war.

Rings and corridors

The concentric rings are labelled A to E from the center outward, with extra F and G rings in the basement. Only E Ring offices have outside views, and they are usually used by senior officials. Offices have numbers such as 2B315, which means the second floor, B ring, near corridor 3. Five entrances face the Mall, the river, the Concourse with the Metro station, the south parking lot and the army heliport. The riverside entrance once had a landing dock where people were ferried to Bolling Air Force Base until the late 1960s.

Remembering September 11

On September 11, 2001, the Pentagon was damaged when a hijacked airplane hit its western side. In total 184 people died, 59 on the airplane and 125 in the building. Afterwards the western side was repaired, and a small indoor memorial and chapel were added at the spot of impact. In 2008 an outdoor memorial to the victims opened just southwest of the building.