Pentagon Building

The Pentagon serves as headquarters for the U.S. Department of Defense and has come to be recognized as a symbol of U.S. military strength. The unique five-sided building also is a testament to wartime creativity and initiative. It was conceived as a centralized facility to bring together thousands of dispersed U.S. War Department employees as the nation moved closer to the brink of war in the early 1940s. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, construction efforts were accelerated, and the massive building was erected in just 16 months.

The primarily concrete structure encompasses more than 6 million square feet of floor space and still ranks among the largest office buildings in the world. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1992, and significant renovations were ...