The inside of the White House after it was gutted in 1950 (Photo: National Archives)
Not everyone is aware that in 1950 the White House was gutted and rebuilt. It was old, dilapidated, and parts of it were in danger of collapsing. Pres. Harry S Truman oversaw the massive renovation rather than start a completely new mansion from scratch. It’s difficult to imagine that after all the White House had endured and despite its historical significance, razing it was seriously considered. And yet it was. Thankfully, the renovation was undertaken instead.
There are more photos and details with the Feb. 26 National Journal article, “What the White House Looks Like Completely Gutted.”
This bulldozer had to be taken apart and reassembled piece by piece inside the White House because Pres. Truman would not allow a sufficiently large hole to be cut into the walls. (Photo: National Archives)
Just finished a great biography on President Garfield. He did the same thing. They were using threadbare carpets to cover all the holes in the floors, even during state dinners heh
Posted by Rachael Black | March 4, 2013, 11:26 pm MDTWould have been embarrassing to have some foreign dignitary fall through the floor!
Posted by PiedType | March 4, 2013, 11:38 pm MDTOh, GREAT pics!
Posted by Rachael Black | March 4, 2013, 11:27 pm MDTWhen they said “gutted,” they weren’t kidding. I’d hate to have been responsible if those poorly supported outer walls had fallen …
Posted by PiedType | March 4, 2013, 11:37 pm MDTVery interesting, PT. I especially like the pictures – I had no idea such things existed, although it is logical. When our present house was being built in 1999 to 2000 I took pictures of each stage of construction, about a dozen in all, and put them in our album. We live in homes, things that despite realtors’ rubric start out as houses.
Hmm. I am curious what now lies underground beneath the White House. There was lots of digging during the Cold War.
Posted by Jim Wheeler | March 5, 2013, 6:51 am MDTI’d seen these photos somewhere once before, perhaps on some TV show. That’s where I saw something about all the mysterious construction around the White House during the Cold War and more recently. Lots of speculation without any facts — as those shows tend to be.
I grew up in a house that was built in 1909 and remember when the ceiling in my sister’s bedroom developed a large crack that grew bigger over a number of weeks. At some point, before the contractors were called in but after my sister was moved to another room, about half the ceiling fell. In another incident, a large slab of plaster or concrete fell from under the eaves — the soffit — of the two-story house into the driveway. Luckily no one and no car was there at the time. Suffice it to say I pay close attention to cracked ceilings. No building lasts forever.
Posted by PiedType | March 5, 2013, 10:07 am MDTCool pixs! Never seen these
Posted by philosophermouseofthehedge | March 5, 2013, 11:40 am MDTHope you checked out all the ones on the National Journal site …
Posted by PiedType | March 5, 2013, 12:09 pm MDTGood thing Robert Moses lived in NY, not DC…
Posted by twissblog | March 9, 2013, 2:30 pm MDTI’ve only been in those cities once each, but urban renewal in my old hometown (Oklahoma City) razed many old historical buildings with no thought to anything but “modernization” ala the infamous Pei Plan. Of course, we had nothing like the White House, since the city wasn’t even founded until 1889.
Posted by PiedType | March 9, 2013, 8:17 pm MDT