Bancroft Hall
Bancroft Hall, named after Secretary of the Navy
George Bancroft, is located in
Annapolis, Maryland, and is the largest
dormitory in the world. It houses every
midshipman at the
United States Naval Academy (over 4000 total). It has eight wings -- arranged, as on a ship, with evens on the port side and odds on the starboard -- of five decks each (numbered 0 - 4). In addition to Midshipmen rooms, Bancroft Hall houses offices for the Commandant of Midshipmen, six battalion officers, six battalion chaplains, thirty company officers and their senior enlisted leaders, a barber shop, a bank, a travel office, a textbook store, a general store ("The Naval Academy Store" or "The Mid Store", as the Midshipmen call it), a laundromat, a cobbler shop, and the USNA branch of the
United States Postal Service. It is also home to King Hall (named after Fleet Admiral
Ernest J. King), where all 4000+ Midshipmen are fed simultaneously twice daily and thrice on Wednesdays (the day of mandatory dress-up evening meal).