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Where the parasitologists worked
First USDA Administration Building: Washington, D.C.
When Cooper Curtice began parasite work in USDA's Bureau of Animal Industry in 1886, the Animal Pathology Laboratory and the Office of the Veterinary Division occupied the upper floor of USDA’s first administration building, erected in 1868.
The United States Department of Agriculture's first administration building stood on the National Mall and was in use until the early 1900s. 1867.
Laboratory for Animal Pathology: Washington, D.C.
The Zoological Division occupied the first floor front of 1362 B Street and the library was in the first floor rear from 1891 to 1908.
This Washington, D.C. building was occupied by the three laboratories of the Bureau of Animal Industry until 1908. First floor: Zoological Division (front) and library (rear); Second floor: Pathological Division; Basement: Animal room. 1894.
New USDA Administration Building, East Wing: Washington, D.C.
The Animal Pathology Laboratory moved from 1362 B Street, S.W. to the east wing of the new USDA Administration Building on the National Mall in 1908. The Zoological Division occupied rooms on the second floor until 1942, when all research scientists were transferred to expanded facilities at the Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland.
USDA headquarters east wing under construction. 1926.
This image shows the east and west wings before being joined by the center administration building. View from the northwest. 1926.
Experiment Station of the Bureau of Animal Industry: Benning Road, Washington, D.C.
In 1883, the Bureau of Animal Industry leased property for the Veterinary Division to conduct research on domestic animals affected with infectious and contagious diseases. This seven-acre property was located in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. on Benning Road and 18th Street, near the northeast boundary of the city. It served as the experiment station of the Bureau of Animal Industry for 14 years.
Experiment Station of the Bureau of Animal Industry: Bethesda, Maryland
In 1897, the experiment station was moved to 18 acres of leased property on Rockville Road in Bethesda, Maryland. The land was purchased in 1899 and 30 acres of adjoining property were added in 1902. By 1906, the property became overcrowded by the numerous animal research projects that occupied it.
Experiment Farm of the Dairy and Animal Husbandry Divisions of the Bureau of Animal Industry: Beltsville, Maryland
Because of the high price of land adjoining the Bethesda property, the government purchased a less expensive farm in Beltsville, Maryland in 1910. The Beltsville property was used for studies in animal husbandry and dairying.
Aerial view from the Goodyear Blimp of land purchased by USDA in 1910 for the Beltsville Research Center. 1936.
Experiment Farm: Vienna, Virginia
The Bureau of Animal Industry rented a 160-acre farm near Vienna, Virginia in 1914 for experimental work on the practical control of sheep parasites, and appointed Cooper Curtice to oversee the work there. The Virginia property was used until the spring of 1926, when the lease expired. The Bureau transferred its sheep parasite work to McNeill, Mississippi.
USDA sheep farm in Vienna, Virginia. 1921.
Animal Parasite Field Station: Beltsville, Maryland
Parasitological research soon outgrew the space on the fourth floor of USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C. The staff needed better facilities with farm-like conditions to conduct research related to livestock and poultry. Maurice C. Hall requested an experiment station in the D.C. area so staff would continue to have access to local libraries. In 1929, Bureau of Animal Industry chief John Mohler allotted the Zoological Division 30 acres of land on the government-owned farm in Beltsville, Maryland. Construction of the experiment station began sooner than planned because of the availability of public works program employees.
The Beltsville laboratory was built with rooms and facilities for insectaries, aquariums, and vivariums for raising worm parasite hosts. The farm had many small pastures for intensive studies of parasite populations in animals.
First animal parasite research laboratory of the Zoological Division, Bureau of Animal Industry at Beltsville, Maryland. Circa 1931.
Move to the Animal Disease Station facilities: Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Maryland
Between 1960 and 1961, the parasitology research laboratory moved to facilities on Edmonston Road in Beltsville, formerly occupied by the veterinary microbiology program. The new location included a 400-acre tract of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. The laboratory's new home greatly expanded its capacity for raising farm animals and conducting pasture experiments.
Aerial view of the Beltsville Parasitology Laboratory, Animal Disease and Parasites. 1952.
Resources:
Andrews, John S. 1987. “Animal Parasitology in the United States Department of Agriculture, 1886-1984.” In 100 Years of Animal Health 1884-1984, edited by Vivian D. Wiser, Larry Mark, H. Graham Purchase, and Associates of the National Agricultural Library, 113–65. Beltsville, MD: Associates of the National Agricultural Library, Inc.
Houck, U. G. 1924. “History of the Bureau of Animal Industry and Zoological Division.” U.S. National Animal Parasite Collection Records. Box 98, Folder 5. Special Collections, National Agricultural Library.
Schwabe, Calvin W. 1981. “A Brief History of American Parasitology: The Veterinary Connection between Medicine and Zoology.” In The Current Status and Future of Parasitology: Report of a Conference Sponsored Jointly by The Rockefeller Foundation and the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, edited by Kenneth S. Warren and Elizabeth F. Purcell, 21–43. New York: Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation.
---. 1933. “New Construction at Beltsville Makes Experiment Station a Model”. USDA Office of Information Press Service, Washington, D.C. November 16, 1933.