Glen Echo Park - Clara Barton House : Cultural Landcape Inventory, George Washington Memorial Parkway - Glen Echo Park & Clara Barton National Historical Site, National Park Service

Pliska, Jonathan

Cultural Landscape Inventory park report for Glen Echo Park - Clara Barton House managed by administrative unit George Washington Memorial Parkway. The Glen Echo Park-Clara Barton House Cultural Landscape in Montgomery Co., Maryland comprises two contiguous National Park Service units: Glen Echo Park and the Clara Barton National Historic Site and is a total of 22 acres. The Clara Barton National Historic Site is an independent National Park Service holding and Glen Echo Park is under the jurisdiction of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. The cultural landscape property is located on the east side of the Potomac River, 2.5 mi. NW of D.C. The boundaries are as follows: Oxford Rd. to the north, Tulane Ave. to the south, MacArthur Blvd. to the east, and NPS/GWMP lands to the west. The property includes part of the 80 acres of land donated by Edward and Edwin Baltzley to establish the National Chautauqua of Glen Echo in 1891. They also gifted a portion of this land to Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, and supplied the labor and materials used to construct Barton a house. After the Chautauqua idea failed, Edwin Baltzley began renting out the grounds to Vaudeville acts, and by 1899 the first amusement park structures were built. Even though the bank foreclosed in 1903, the amusement park idea took hold. In fact, 16.5 acres of the Chautauqua campus would function in this capacity until 1968 under the name Glen Echo Park. Clara Barton lived in the house for a brief time in 1891, and then again from 1897 until her death in 1912. During the second period, she established a miniature farm. Congress declared the Clara Barton House a National Historic Landmark on January 12, 1965, and in 1974 passed legislation establishing the house and grounds as the Clara Barton National Historic Site. This property was acquired by NPS in April 1975 through a donation from the Friends of Clara Barton. The Glen Echo Park-Clara Barton House Cultural Landscape retains integrity to its historic period of significance (1888-1968). Many of the historic structures remain, including the Clara Barton House and the Art Deco buildings that lend Glen Echo Park its signature appearance. The 1921 Dentzel Carousel continues to operate seasonally. The circulation routes between the amusement park buildings are the same as in the historic period, and the circular driveway established by Barton is still present today. Historic trees still grow in the Picnic Grove section the park. The Clara Barton House, a National Historic Landmark, was added to the National Register of Historic Places following the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The 1980 National Register Nomination identified the Clara Barton National Historic Site as nationally significant according to National Register Criterion B, based upon its association with the life and work of Clara Barton. Glen Echo Park was listed on the National Register as a historic district in 1984. The Chautauqua Tower, the oldest intact structure in the Glen Echo Park-Clara Barton House Cultural Landscape, and the 1921 Dentzel Carousel had previously been individually listed in 1980. The period of significance for the Glen Echo Park-Clara Barton House Cultural Landscape is 1888-1968. These dates represent the purchase of the land by Edward and Edwin Baltzley in 1888, extend through the tenure of Clara Barton, the brief existence of the National Chautauqua of Glen Echo, and the founding of the Glen Echo amusement park. The period ends with the permanent closure of the amusement park in 1968.

Glen Echo Park - Clara Barton House : Cultural Landcape Inventory, George Washington Memorial Parkway - Glen Echo Park & Clara Barton National Historical Site, National Park Service

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