The Navy Yard is a convergence of innovation and history. During the Revolutionary War, the USS Monitor, the Union’s first ironclad ship to be tested against the British, was constructed here, and in WWII the Navy Yard became a critical manufacturing center as well as shipbuilding yard. But after closing along with 90 other bases in 1966, the buildings were mostly empty, with only a few manufacturers operating. In 1987, it opened up for small and midsized businesses, quickly filling occupancy and beginning a new era. Now, buildings dating to the civil war are filled with tech innovators, and artists, and new developments include the largest film studio outside of Hollywood.