The park system of the National Capital is under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

Since 1871 in many ways, particularly municipal affairs, the National Capital has been in the lead among American cities. Having begun with a logical and well-thought-out plan for the original city, the new Federal City was provided with an ample system of public reservations and parks.

However, in the early days of the city there was so much unoccupied land that it was hard to believe there would ever be any necessity for parks and open spaces developed and maintained at public expense. For three-quarters of a century Washington was so spread out within the borders of the original plan that the street rights-of-way and public grounds reserved by the L’Enfant plan seemed to be entirely out of scale with the needs of the city and were looked upon by some as a burden rather than as a benefit. It was not until the increase in population, which has continued steadily since the Civil War, and the congestion of the streets in recent years with automobiles and a great volume of traffic, that the building lots have been occupied with structures and the full width of the streets needed for traffic, so that the public reservations have become the only refuge for the play of children and the recreation of older people.

It is, therefore, easy to understand the lack of appreciation of the city park system during the first half of the nineteenth century. A few far-sighted individuals only realized the necessity for preserving these reservations until they would be needed as breathing spaces in a thickly settled city, and they had to wage a persistent and hard-fought campaign through the years against those who constantly wanted to sell off the public reservations for building development of some kind or other, or to have the Government itself use them for buildings. In the two or three cases in which the latter was done we now have reason to regret it; in a few cases in which the reservations were sold the Government is now having to buy them back at considerable cost. It was not a matter of little importance which led President Thomas Jefferson to exclaim: “How I wish that I possessed the power of a despot.” The company at the table stared at a declaration so opposed to his disposition and principles. “Yes,” continued he, in reply to their inquiring looks, “I wish I was a despot, that I might save the noble, the beautiful trees that are daily falling sacrifices to the cupidity of their owners, or the necessity of the poor.” “And have you not authority to save those on the public grounds?” asked one of the company. “No,” answered Mr. Jefferson, “only an armed guard could save them. The unnecessary felling of a tree, perhaps the growth of centuries, seems to me a crime little short of murder; it pains me to an unspeakable degree.”

The same desire to cut down trees in order to make room for more concrete and masonry persists to this day and can only be controlled by constant vigilance. The importance of open spaces and city parks, developed into beauty spots by the art of the landscape architect, should be evident to all.

As a matter of fact, perhaps the most unusual and original feature of the L’Enfant plan was the idea of building the city about two coordinate axes of parks—one a park system nearly a third of a mile wide, leading from the Capitol westward to the Potomac River, and the other the same width, leading from the White House south to the river, with the Washington Monument at their intersection. This was an innovation and a departure from the usual development of a city about a commercial street—a main street or a market street. Provision was made in the plan for such a great commercial street on the diagonal of the triangle, the avenue joining the Capitol with the White House, and named Pennsylvania Avenue, for the State in which the Federal Government had up to then spent the greater part of its life.

Much of the Mall leading westward from the Capitol was unfortunately taken up by the estuary of Tiber Creek, which overflowed at high tide. It was the intention of Major L’Enfant and his urgent recommendation that this creek be confined to a canal which he proposed to construct along the northern part of the proposed park. This canal would not only afford water transportation for heavy and bulky materials to and from the business part of the city but at the same time would be a water feature of the proposed park. Unfortunately, while the canal was built, Tiber Creek was not entirely confined to it, and its estuary was allowed to continue to overflow the Mall area and thus delay its development.

When the Washington Monument was located, instead of being placed at the exact intersection of the two park axes, it was placed on a natural hill near by which was safely above tide level. The idea of an avenue from the Capitol to the Washington Monument seems to have been abandoned for many years, and when the Smithsonian Institution was built in the Mall the plan made by A. J. Downing was adopted for the entire Mall, superseding that of L’Enfant. These were the days when the so-called naturalistic park development was in vogue, and everything had to be consciously picturesque. No road or path could be straight, and no regularity in planting or plan was tolerated. The L’Enfant plan was again disregarded in laying out the Department of Agriculture grounds in 1867. With the avenue of the Mall out of the picture, there was no reason apparent to those in authority for refusing permission to the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. to run its tracks across the Mall and build its passenger station in the Mall itself, at Sixth Street.

It was this station, however, which brought about the restudy of the plan of Washington and the return to the Mall development in accordance with L’Enfant’s principles, for Col. Theodore A. Bingham, then in charge of Public Buildings and Grounds, on hearing that legislation was about to be passed authorizing the railroad to build a viaduct across the Mall to this station, and realizing that this expensive structure would probably make the carrying out of L’Enfant’s plan impossible, got the plan out of the files and started a campaign to prevent the legislation from passing and to rehabilitate the authority of the L’Enfant plan. He was fortunate in finding those among his superiors who appreciated the situation, and in securing the very wise and effective help of Senator McMillan and of the American Institute of Architects.

Indeed, the interest in the National Capital, excited in this way and more or less focused upon it by the centenary of its occupation as the seat of the Federal Government, resulted in the McMillan Park Commission of 1901 and its very valuable recommendations for the development and beautification of the National Capital. In recent years the development of the Mall in accordance with the plan of 1901 has been authorized by Congress and is being carried on step by step as it becomes possible in connection with the public-buildings program.

The smaller reservations and parks suffered neglect equally, as was to be expected. In making his plan L’Enfant had located public reservations at various important street and avenue intersections. Where more than two streets crossed at one point, a circle or square to take up and distribute the traffic among the various streets was almost necessary, or at least would be necessary to-day, and it is fortunate that what L’Enfant did for appearance should now be proving to have real utilitarian value. His own ideas about the purpose and function of these squares are expressed in his report, as follows:

While Lafayette Park, in front of and north of the White House, was graded as early as 1826, it was not planted and really developed as a park for some time after that. In 1853 the Clark Mills statue of Jackson was placed in it as its central feature.

Similarly, the equestrian statue of Washington brought about the improvement of Washington Circle at the westerly end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Garfield Park, now one of the most beautiful parks in the city, was graded and to some extent improved in 1838, in connection with its use as a nursery for trees to ornament the public grounds and Pennsylvania Avenue.

A botanic garden, which had been talked about from the very first, and was finally brought to a head by the necessity for providing for the botanic collection of the Smithsonian Institution, was gradually established at the east end of the Mall between First and Third Streets. It did not become a really important feature of public benefit to the city until 1852, when it was placed in the hands of William R. Smith, who had had experience in Kew Gardens in England and made sufficient progress for the Botanic Garden to be described in 1859 “as a pleasant place to visit, with gravel walks, bordered with box, rare plants, and trees.”

How little these parks were needed then to give the requisite touch of nature in urban surroundings and to what extent the National Capital still retained its character of a few scattered settlements in the midst of farm land is shown by the fact that the one or two which had been improved had to be fenced in to protect their young trees and shrubs against the cattle, goats, and sheep that roamed the streets. As late as 1870 the danger to pedestrians from the domestic animals allowed at large was the subject of protest in formal speeches in Congress. During the Civil War many of the public reservations were used for camps, hospitals, and drill grounds, which use naturally did not help their appearance.

While the parks and reservations not used by the Federal Government remained relatively unimproved and in the condition of unsightly village commons, the grounds around the public buildings of the Federal Government were given a little more attention and were gradually improved. The north grounds of the White House were fixed up in Jefferson’s administration and rearranged from time to time subsequently, but so little importance was attached to appearances that the south grounds of the White House remained unimproved through the first half of the century. It was not until after the Civil War that real importance was attached to the beautification of the grounds and the systematic planting of trees in the streets. The public buildings and grounds were turned over to the Chief of Engineers in 1867, and since that time have received a great deal more attention than ever before. In 1898 the municipal parks were transferred from the city government to the Chief of Engineers and have been systematically improved since.

With the street trees and the improved city parks scattered about the central part of the city, Washington has acquired a characteristic appearance of its own and offers the charm and amenities which other American cities were not wise enough to provide for themselves.

As the city grew outside of the original plan, a few projects for large and extensive parks were adopted. The beautiful Rock Creek Valley was purchased for a park and for the Zoological Garden under the act approved September 27, 1890; and provision was made by the act approved August 2, 1882, for the filling in of the Potomac tidal flats. This latter project has developed nearly 1,000 acres of reclaimed park land extensively used for recreation of all kinds. It also extended the axis of the Mall about three-fourths of a mile beyond what was originally planned, thus affording a suitable terminal in the site for the Lincoln Memorial.

In 1893 the evils of new, rapidly growing subdivisions outside the limits of the L’Enfant plan—laid out without any regard to the latter—were sufficiently recognized to bring about the passage of legislation for making a highway or street plan of the entire District of Columbia. This law was further amended in 1898 and resulted in a street layout followed ever since, with modifications from time to time. But this, being a street plan, made no provision for the extension of the system of city parks into the new territory, nor for merging the newly authorized major park projects with the street system. Hence one of the major duties with which the McMillan Commission was charged in 1901 was the design of appropriate parks outside of the L’Enfant plan.

The high talents and national reputation of the members of this commission insured that their recommendations for the beautification and development of the Capital would really be a new, grand, basic plan. After mature study, in the light of the finest examples the world had produced, this commission reinstated the authority of the L’Enfant plan and carried it to its logical conclusions in new territory. This action reflected credit not only on the genius of L’Enfant but also on the commission itself, which had the wisdom to recognize the supreme merit of the original plan and the good sense, and modesty, to build upon it.

However, the 1901 commission’s plan never received general legislative sanction, and approval of some of its individual major projects was obtained only after great effort and much urging by the executive authorities and some far-sighted Members of the Congress. First, the railroads arranged for a Union Station (1903), and the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. removed its tracks and station from the Mall, so that to-day the traveler by rail enters the city through a great monumental portal and finds himself in sight of the Capitol. In 1913 the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway was authorized, to connect the Rock Creek Valley with the Potomac Park system. In 1911 the Lincoln Memorial and the development of the Mall between it and the Washington Monument were provided for. A law approved in 1901 provided for construction of the General Grant Memorial at the east end of the Mall at the base of Capitol Hill, while a memorial to Gen. George G. Meade, located in relation to the Grant Memorial, was subsequently (1926) accepted from the State of Pennsylvania. In 1924 the Arlington Memorial Bridge was approved.

In 1910 the National Commission of Fine Arts was set up to—

This commission, which has numbered in its membership the greatest architects and artists of the country, has helped greatly not only in raising the standard of the public works of art but also in securing the adoption of important parts of the 1901 plan.

With the general paving of streets, the filling of vacant lots with houses, and the increasing automobile traffic, it became necessary to provide safe play places for children and necessary recreation facilities for adults. In response to this demand, a system of playgrounds was adopted and a playgrounds department set up in 1911.

While all these projects were good and necessary, they failed to keep pace with the needs of the rapidly growing city. Intrusted to different executive authorities, these efforts could not be properly coordinated, and occasionally were designed without the fullest consideration of other projects affected by them. The proposed system of playgrounds was not extended as intended, and even if it had been would have proved inadequate. Lands recommended for park use in 1901 were built on with expensive improvements and put to private or commercial uses.

The progress made in the quarter century 1901 to 1926 was so unsatisfactory that a Park and Planning Commission was established (1924, amended 1926)—

Besides its city-planning work, this commission recommended a complete system of city parks, playgrounds, and recreation centers, as well as a system of regional parks.

The main new city park feature is a circumferential parkway joining the old Civil War forts built to defend the city against attack, but now too near urban development to be of any military efficacy. But the sites of the forts themselves, besides the interest of the remains of the military works, are excellently suited for local parks, and because of their commanding positions afford many unique and magnificent views, while the drive joining them, besides giving opportunity for an unusually picturesque pleasure drive, will provide very much-needed cross connections of great traffic value between the radial streets entering the city.

There is to be a series of neighborhood recreation centers from 10 to 20 acres in size for each residential community, with playgrounds for small children interspersed at intervals of about half a mile. The recreation system is to comprise fields for major sports and swimming pools and constitutes a reasonable effort to meet the policy that “every child shall have a place to play.”

The regional park system contemplates the acquisition of the shores of the Potomac from Mount Vernon to and including Great Falls as a memorial park in memory of George Washington. This will include an area of unique historical and scenic value of such picturesque attractiveness as can not be found in such close proximity to any other great city, and a possible natural playground within reach of millions of the city dwellers of the Atlantic seaboard.

The new memorial highway to Mount Vernon is an important element of this project, which was completed in 1932. In the north end of the project, near Great Falls, are the remains of the Old Potomack Canal, of which George Washington himself supervised the construction, while on the Maryland shore is the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, formally initiated by President John Quincy Adams in 1828, and a most perfect example of the type of canal which brought about the development of our country in the first half of the nineteenth century. Its quiet waters and overgrown towpath and banks have unusual charm and afford a most charming and interesting contrast with the torrential river below in its rugged canyon.

As a natural terminal on the Maryland bank of the river, nearly opposite Mount Vernon, is picturesque old Fort Washington designed by Major L’Enfant after the War of 1812, and one of the best-preserved forts of this type in the South Atlantic States. From its parapet one can enjoy one of the best views of the Capital City L’Enfant so gloriously and successfully planned.

The regional park system also proposes the extension of Rock Creek Park into Maryland and various other similar connections with projects in the District of Columbia. Perhaps the most important is the opportunity for a parkway, like the Bronx Parkway, between Washington and Baltimore, following up the Anacostia Valley, Northwest Branch, and Indian Creek.

The recommendations of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission as to parks were given legislative sanction by the act approved May 29, 1930, and are being carried out as fast as funds are made available. The opportunities here for a nearly ideal park and playground system are so unusual that the entire country must be interested in seeing their early completion. Other cities can have monumental buildings, but no other large city can still have at reasonable cost the park and recreational facilities essential to the amenities of life and the raising of a new generation under conditions assuring, for poor and rich alike, a sound mind in a sound body.

LAFAYETTE PARK

The L’Enfant plan shows the ground now known as Lafayette Park, or Lafayette Square, comprising about 7 acres, to have been a part of the President’s Park, extending on the north side from H Street southward to the Monument Grounds, between Fifteenth and Seventeenth Streets. Similarly, the subsequent Ellicott plan and the Dermott plan make provision for such a spacious park to surround the President’s House. These plans show no street dividing Lafayette Park from the White House Grounds.

When L’Enfant prepared his plan this was a neglected area, a common without trees. A race course was laid out, in 1797, on the west side of the grounds, extending westward to Twentieth Street. Huts for workmen who helped build the President’s House were erected on the grounds, and when these were removed a market was established there. This was later relocated farther to the center of the town, on Pennsylvania Avenue, between Seventh and Ninth Streets. Thomas Jefferson first undertook really to improve the grounds and marked the east and west limits as they are to-day, called Madison Place and Jackson Place, respectively.

Until 1816 the only important building that had been erected adjacent to Lafayette Park was St. John’s Church. Then, in 1818, the Dolly Madison House was built, and in 1819 the Decatur House. From then on and for more than 50 years following Lafayette Park became the center of social life in Washington. Nearly every house surrounding it became noted for its historical associations. However, the park seems to have been neglected the greater part of this period. In 1840 there was an ordinary fence around it.

Just when this park area took the name of Lafayette Park is not definitely known. As has been said, originally this area was a part of the President’s Park, and D. B. Warden, in his volume entitled “Description of the District of Columbia,” published in 1816, refers to it as such by saying, in connection with rates of fare for hackney carriages—

In his voluminous history of Lafayette Square, Gist Blair states—

Again, speaking of the many social events held in Washington during this visit of Lafayette, Mr. Blair says:

In the office of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, there is a map dated 1852, on which Lafayette Park is shown to be separated from the White House Grounds. The first printed report of the Commissioner of Public Buildings, on file in that office, is of the year 1857. In that report there is a reference to Lafayette Square with an account of certain work being done there in that year.

During more than a quarter of a century past the grounds have been properly maintained as a park. To-day there are five notable monuments in Lafayette Park; namely, the Jackson, Lafayette, Rochambeau, Von Steuben, and the Kosciuszko.

POTOMAC PARKS

It is of interest to note from the L’Enfant plan of 1791 the absence of land in the area known to-day as West and East Potomac Parks. Seventy-five years ago the area had developed into a marshy region, which became so malarial as to affect seriously the health of residents of the city. In 1901 the McMillan Park Commission decided to extend the axis of the Mall westward three-fourths of a mile, and as a result one of the greatest and most remarkable developments in city planning has been accomplished, for at that time, in connection with the park improvement project, the location of the Lincoln Memorial and the Arlington Memorial Bridge was determined upon in plan, together with the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway development. The dredging of these swampy regions by the United States Engineer Office resulted in the creation of West Potomac Park, comprising 394 acres.

East Potomac Park is located along the Potomac River not far from the Lincoln Memorial and has developed during the past few years into the most prominent recreational park of the city. The golf course, field house, and picnic groves are features of the park. It is one of the three great island parks of the world and comprises 327 acres of land reclaimed from the Potomac River, with a water front of 3⁵⁄₈ miles. The park is bounded by a motor drive, which is lined with Japanese cherry trees. A canal to cross the park, connecting Washington Channel with the Potomac River, is in plan.

JAPANESE CHERRY TREES

The Japanese cherry trees along the Tidal Basin and the Potomac Park Driveway attract thousands of visitors to Washington during the cherry blossom season, which is early in April of each year. They are the gift of the city of Tokyo to the National Capital. Upon arrival the first consignment of 2,000 trees was found to be infected by fungous diseases and insect pests, and thereupon they were destroyed. In the winter of 1911-12 the city of Tokyo renewed the gift, and in March, 1912, a consignment of 3,020 trees arrived in Washington. These were examined by experts of the Department of Agriculture and pronounced healthy specimens.

Arrangements were made immediately for planting them. Mrs. William Howard Taft planted the first tree and Viscountess Chinda the second early in April. When the news was received in Japan that the trees had been successfully planted, the following message from Mayor Ozaki, of Tokyo, was received:

The cherry trees of Washington are almost entirely of the flowering species, of the single and double blossom varieties; the former, planted at the edge of the Tidal Basin, appear first. There they are near, also, to the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, and with their tinted blossoms present a charming vista. The double-flowering variety in East Potomac Park appears about two weeks later.

MERIDIAN HILL PARK

Meridian Hill Park is located between Fifteenth and Sixteenth and W and Euclid Streets NW. It comprises about 12 acres. The design for improving the park has been completed and approved and a large-scale model of the southern portion prepared for special study in carrying out the details.

In design Meridian Hill Park is similar to an Italian garden, containing an upper and a lower garden, and as a formal garden of its kind there is no other like it in the United States. The upper garden extends from Euclid Street about 900 feet south on a practically level stretch of mall to the grand terrace, which forms the cross axis of the park. Concert groves and promenades, with niches for statues and monuments in the hemlock hedge, are features of the upper garden. This part of the park has been for the most part completed.

From the terrace a commanding view of the city is obtained. Immediately to the south is a cascade, descending to a pool in the lower garden. East of the pool there is a statue of President Buchanan, erected by authority of Congress as the gift of Harriet Lane Johnston to the United States. In the lower garden there is also a great exedra, forming the main point from which to view the cascades. Along the sides of the lower garden are walks amidst planting, leading to the upper garden. The main entrance to Meridian Hill Park is on Sixteenth Street. A tablet here suggests the name given to the park. It bears this inscription:

THE STONE MARKING THE WASHINGTON MERIDIAN WAS FORMERLY LOCATED 52 FEET 9 INCHES WEST OF THIS TABLET, WHICH WAS PRESENTED BY THE ARMY AND NAVY CHAPTER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1804-1923.

On the grand terrace is a copy of the famous Dubois statue of Jeanne d’Arc, given by the Société des Femmes de France à New York to the National Capital. There is also a statue of Dante in the lower garden, the gift of Chevalier Carlo Barsotti, editor of a leading Italian newspaper of New York City. An armillary sphere is in the great exedra of the lower garden.

While a million dollars could not buy the land occupied by Meridian Hill Park, it is of interest to know that for the 110 acres, which extended from what is now Florida Avenue to Columbia Road and east of Sixteenth Street, Commodore Porter paid $13,000 in 1816.

ROCK CREEK PARK

One of the largest and most beautiful natural parks in the world is Rock Creek Park, extending from the William Howard Taft Bridge northward to the boundary line of the District of Columbia, and comprising 1,632 acres. Congress authorized the creation of the park in 1890, with an appropriation of $10,000. Adjacent to the park is the National Zoological Park.

ANACOSTIA PARK

The plan for the development of this project provides for the reclamation of what are known as the Anacostia Flats, along the Anacostia River, on the east side of the District of Columbia, into Anacostia Park, of 1,100 acres. The distance from the point near the War College to the District line is about 6 miles. The park will be one of the largest and most beautiful waterside parks in this country. The breaking of ground for the park took place August 2, 1923.

As has been related, more than three centuries ago, or in the summer of 1608, Capt. John Smith, in an exploration of the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, landed on these very banks. He found a tribe of peaceful Indians, the Nacotchtant (Anacostans), numbering some 80 men, kind and well disposed, who did their best to content Captain Smith and his fellow explorers. These Indians no doubt made their home in this neighborhood on account of the abundance of game.

One of the largest water-lily gardens, the Shaw Lily Gardens, is situated opposite Mount Hamilton, on the east side of the Anacostia River. It is thought these ultimately will become part of the Anacostia Park. The Anacostia is also a popular place for fishing, and it is expected fish ponds will be established there later.

A large stadium and playground at the end of East Capitol Street, adjoining Anacostia Park, is proposed. The National Arboretum will be adjacent to it from Mount Hamilton eastward.

NATIONAL ARBORETUM

The movement to establish a National Arboretum was first definitely proposed by Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, in his report for the fiscal year 1899—

In 1918 the Commission of Fine Arts, at the request of the House Committee on the Library, made a study of the problem of the location of a proposed botanical garden and arboretum. After an elaborate study, conducted with the help of the Department of Agriculture, the commission recommended the purchase of Mount Hamilton and adjacent land, and Hickey Hill, together with the lands between those heights and the Anacostia marshes, in northeast Washington. The report of the commission encountered opposition, but its logic has prevailed.

The act providing for the establishment of the National Arboretum, approved March 4, 1927, is one of the few measures that survived the filibuster in the Senate on the closing day of that session, because of the untiring efforts of Senator Charles L. McNary, of Oregon, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. Hon. Robert Luce, chairman of the Committee on the Library, handled the bill in the House of Representatives. The sum of $300,000 was authorized by the act for the National Arboretum, and this amount was subsequently appropriated. The act provided also for the appointment by the Secretary of Agriculture of an advisory council in relation to the plan and development of the National Arboretum. To serve on this council the Secretary of Agriculture appointed the following persons:

Frederic A. Delano, Washington, D. C., member of the Board of Regents, Smithsonian Institution.

Henry S. Graves, New Haven, Conn., dean of the School of Forestry, Yale University; fellow of the Society of American Foresters; and formerly president of the American Forestry Association.

Harlan P. Kelsey, Salem, Mass., member and former president of the American Association of Nurserymen.

John C. Merriam, Washington, D. C., president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington; member of the National Academy of Sciences and of the National Research Council.

Mrs. Frank B. Noyes, Washington, D. C., chairman of the District of Columbia committee of the Garden Club of America.

Frederick Law Olmsted, Brookline, Mass., member and former president of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Mrs. Harold I. Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island, N. Y., secretary of the Garden Club of America.

Robert Pyle, West Grove, Pa., president of the American Horticultural Society and a director of the Society of American Florists and Ornamental Horticulturists.

Vernon Kellogg, permanent secretary of the National Research Council.

It is proposed to purchase about 500 acres, 400 of which, including Mount Hamilton and adjacent portions of Anacostia Park, have already been secured. Thirty-two distinct varieties of soils suited to the growth of trees and plants have been found in this area.

Due to mild climatic conditions in Washington, at the gateway of the South, where there is neither the extreme cold of the North nor the extreme heat of the South, many varieties of trees and plants of both North and South will grow, making it one of the most favorable localities in the United States for the establishment of a National Arboretum. Many countries which have established an arboretum in their capital cities have provided not only an attractive place of public interest but also the source of millions of dollars in revenue.