North Rosslyn in Arlington in Arlington County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Watergate Investigation

Photographed By Steven Berkowitz, September 18, 2011

1. Watergate Investigation Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

Mark Felt, second in command at the FBI, met Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward here in this parking garage to discuss the Watergate scandal. Felt provided Woodward information that exposed the Nixon Administration’s obstruction of the FBI's Watergate investigation. He chose this garage as an anonymous secure location. They met at this garage six times between October 1972 and November 1973. The Watergate scandal resulted in President Nixon’s resignation in 1974. Woodward’s managing editor, Howard Simons, gave Felt the code name “Deep Throat.” Woodward’s promise not to reveal his source was kept until Felt announced his role as Deep Throat in 2005.

Erected 2011 by Arlington County Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Communications • Law Enforcement • War, Vietnam. In addition, it is included in the Former U.S. Presidents: #37 Richard M. Nixon series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1972.

Location. 38° 53.716′ N, 77° 4.405′

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W. Marker is in Arlington, Virginia, in Arlington County. It is in North Rosslyn. Marker is on North Nash Street south of Key Boulevard, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Arlington VA 22209, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. ARPANET (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Fort Corcoran (about 800 feet away); Rosslyn (approx. ¼ mile away); Purple Heart Memorial (approx. ¼ mile away); Fort Haggerty (approx. ¼ mile away); Here We Remember Them All (approx. 0.3 miles away); Something More Than A Statue (approx. 0.3 miles away); A Legacy Older than the Republic (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Arlington.

More about this marker. Marker incorrectly states it was erected in 2008. While the marker was approved by the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board in 2008, it was not installed until 2011. It placed in the public right-of-way along Nash Street next to the Parking Garage B entry/exit.

Woodward’s late-night meetings with Felt apparently took place near stall D32 in a dark corner of the garage.

Regarding Watergate Investigation. In an August 2011 article, USA Today called this the “most important parking structure in U.S. history.”

Also see . . .
1. Arlington County Marks Watergate Investigation Site in Rosslyn. “Arlington County’s newest historical marker sits outside the parking garage where, between October, 1972 and November, 1973, Mark Felt, second in command at the FBI, met secretly with Washington Post Reporter Bob Woodward. Felt was a key source for Woodward and his reporting partner, Carl Bernstein, in breaking the Watergate scandal that eventually

Photographed By William J. Toman, December 4, 2011

2. Watergate Investigation Marker

The entrance to level A of the parking garage is behind the marker.

cost Richard Nixon the presidency.” (Submitted on September 18, 2011, by Steven Berkowitz of Annnandale, Virginia.)

2. The Watergate Story. This link is to The Washington Post’s collection of articles on the scandal Excerpts: “A burglary at the Washington office complex called the Watergate in June 1972 grew into a wide-ranging political scandal that culminated in the resignation of President Richard Nixon two years later. ‘Watergate’ is shorthand for this tumultuous time in America and its enduring impact.” “A curious crime, two young reporters, and a secret source known ad ‘Deep Throat’ ... Washington would be changed forever.” “The courts, the Congress and a special prosecutor probe into the burglars’ connections to the White House and discover a secret taping system.” “President Nixon refuses to release the tapes and fires the special prosecutor. A decisive Supreme Court ruling is a victory for investigators.” “After 30 years, one of Washington’s best-kept secrets is exposed.” (Submitted on January 22, 2012.)

3. Unlocking Deep Throat’s territory with new Rosslyn marker. “Michael Leventhal, Arlington’s historic preservation coordinator, pointed to the importance of documenting the spot in an ever-evolving neighborhood. ‘We thought we should

Photographed By Ray Gurganus, August 17, 2020

3. Watergate Investigation Marker

probably do a marker and let people know this, indeed, is where all these things took place,’ Leventhal said. ‘As with all these changes ... you don't want to lose that something happened and this is where things occurred.’ “Leventhal hypothesized that the D.C.-based pair of Felt and Woodward chose to conduct their exchanges at the garage because it was ‘subterranean’ and discreet, but familiar.” The story was dramatized in the 1976 film "All the President's Men." (Submitted on January 22, 2012.)

4. All the President's Men. 1976 Warner Brothers movie starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford, on Amazon.com. (Submitted on January 22, 2012.)

5. All the President’s Men. 1974 book by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Washington Post reporters who broke the story, on Amazon.com. (Submitted on January 22, 2012.)

6. The White House Plumbers. (Submitted on May 20, 2012, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland.)
7. The Parking Garage Where Deep Throat Spilled the Beans on Watergate Is Being Torn Down (Smithsonian). (Submitted on January 17, 2017.)
8. Watergate Investigation. YouTube video (Submitted on December 27, 2020, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.)

Additional commentary.
1. Plans made to tear down the parking garage.
A long time development project has planned to demolish the Deep Throat parking garage. But city leaders say the legend of Deep Throat will live on, and the plaque commemorating those secret meetings will be restored once the new site is completed.

— Submitted March 1, 2018, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.

Additional keywords.

Parking Garage Space D32 image. Click for full size.

Photographed By William J. Toman, December 4, 2011

4. Parking Garage Space D32

This is the area where Bob Woodward reportedly met with Mark Felt. The space number is on the column in the upper right of this photo.

Watergate, Deep Throat, Nixon, Mark Felt, FBI, Bob Woodward, Washington Post; White House Plumbers

Watergate South and Watergate Office Building image. Click for full size.

Photographed By William J. Toman, December 4, 2011

5. Watergate South and Watergate Office Building

This is a view of the most iconic of the buildings in the Watergate complex, with the Watergate South apartments to the left of the divide and offices to the right, taken from a plane on approach to Washington National Airport. The infamous burglary took place in the other Watergate building with office space. The Watergate complex is next to the Potomac River (in the lower portion of the photo) and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (on the right side of this photo).