Serendipity: History of the White House

by Charles Hansen
The 33rd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman, moved into the White House in 1945. To his surprise and dismay, the house had serious problems. Not only was it drafty and creaky, it was downright unsafe.
Chandeliers in the house were observed swaying for no apparent reason, and floors moved underneath people’s feet when stepped on.
All of the above resulted in a structural investigation being conducted on the building, revealing haphazard retrofitting, fire hazards and a second floor that was on the verge of collapsing. What’s more is that the White House’s foundations were sinking, walls were peeling away and disused water and gas pipes were weighing down the building and making it unsustainable.
The situation was so bad that, in June 1948, one of the legs of First Daughter Margaret Truman’s piano fell right through a floorboard of her second-floor sitting room.  This event, along with others,made the Presidential family and its aides realize that serious measures were required to save the historic building.
In 1949, Congress approved a $5.4 million Project to gut the building in its entirety, replacing its interior while retaining its historic facade.
Architects, engineers, and workers toiled for the next 22 months, trying to figure out how to remove unstable structural elements while somehow ensuring the exterior of the building remained intact.
All of the construction equipment used on the site had to be carried inside in pieces, then re-assembled before being used in order to prevent exterior damage. The first and second floors were replaced, while several expansions and basement levels were added, including a bomb shelter that was capable of withstanding a nuclear attack.
President Truman and his family returned to reside in the White House in 1952, with a small ceremony marking the occasion. The First Family received a gold key to its newly-refurbished residence.
May 17, 1950: Bulldozers move earth around inside the gutted shell of the White House
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
January 19, 1950: The East Room.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
February 6, 1950: View from the servants’ dining room.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
February 10, 1950: Workers dismantle a bathtub.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
February 14, 1950: Workers gut a lower corridor.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
February 20, 1950: The Blue Room.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
February 23, 1950: Workers remove the main staircase.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
March 1, 1950: The east wall of the state dining room.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
March 9, 1950: Men stand in the second floor Oval Study above the Blue Room.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
Unknown date in 1950.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
Unknown date in 1950.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
February 27, 1950: A crane lifts a 40-foot beam towards a second-floor window while workers load debris onto a truck.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
November 6, 1950: Workers lay concrete ceilings for basement rooms below the northeast corner of the White House.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
January 23, 1951: The Lincoln Room.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
June 21, 1951: The East Room.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
November 21, 1951: The state dining room.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
January 4, 1952: Workers install new steps on the South Portico.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
February 16, 1952: The South Portico with scaffolding removed.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
July 19, 1951: Workers inside massive ventilation ducts in the basement of the White House.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
December 4, 1951: A third floor corridor.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
January 23, 1952: The state dining room.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
March 24, 1952: Library of Congress employees place books on the shelves of the West Sitting Room.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally
March 27, 1952: President Harry S. Truman and First Lady Bess Truman return to the White House after the renovation.
Take a Look at the White House In Shell Form... Literally

One comment on “Serendipity: History of the White House”

  1. Charles Hansen says:
    February 29, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    Wow I knew they had rebuilt the White House when Truman was president, but never seen so many photos of the work they did

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