Archeological Overview and Assessment of Anacostia and Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens

Louis Berger Group; Katz, Gregory; Bedell, John; Fiedel, Stuart; Wagner, Daniel

On behalf of the National Park Service (NPS), National Capital Region, The Louis Berger Group, Inc. (Louis Berger) prepared an Archeological Overview and Assessment of Anacostia Park (ANAC) and Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens (KEAQ). The parks are located along the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. The Anacostia River is one of two major waterways in the District (the Potomac River is the other), and it has played major role in history of the area. Because of its rich history, the park has a large number of recorded archeological sites and also has a high potential to contain additional sites. However, the landscape of the river valley today is much different from the historic landscape, as much of the valley bottom has been altered through land reclamation and dredging. Most of the land that comprises ANAC was created by modern landfilling. In some places deep fill has been put down over the top of relatively undisturbed landscapes, preserving archeological sites up to 30 feet below the modern surface. The Anacostia River was the major focus of settlement for an Algonquian-speaking Indian group known variously as the Nacotchtanks, Anacostins, or Anacostia Indians. This tribe was present in the river valley until the late seventeenth century. The Nacotchtanks were closely allied with the nearby Piscataway Indians, and it is believed that the Nacotchtanks fled to Piscataway lands as Colonial settlers took the land along the Anacostia River. Indian artifacts were once abundant along the banks of the river, and archeologists have been collecting finds in the river valley for about 125 years, building up an impressive record of discoveries. The first European inhabitants of the District built their homes along the shores of the Anacostia River, then known as the Eastern Branch of the Potomac. Another period of significance was during the Civil War, when the District Columbia became a major theater of war. The heights along the eastern margin of the river valley were heavily fortified, and the valley bottom was used for storage and movement of military supplies, as well as the stabling of horses. In the aftermath of the Civil War, military lands became homesteads for freedmen, and African-American communities burgeoned along the Anacostia River. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, a variety of industries developed along the river, including heavy industry and sewage plants. During the same era massive land reclamation efforts led to the creation of a park system along the Anacostia River, most of which became part of ANAC and KEAQ. ANAC was also the site of a brief but important historical event: the Bonus Army of 1932 (a political and economic protest) which was headquartered in the park. The Bonus Army consisted of about 43,000 protestors who set up shantytowns on the flanks of the Anacostia and in various city parks, and had numerous protests and demonstrations. After many weeks of protests and several violent engagements with the police, the decision was made to have the military disband the protestors. On July 28, 1932, the military moved in and razed the main camp, bulldozing it and setting the remains ablaze. The purpose of Louis Berger’s investigation was to collect and assess baseline cultural resource information on the parks to help determine the need for and design of future archeological studies. Overview and Assessment studies are standard resource management studies conducted by NPS nationwide to meet their mission and follow applicable laws and regulations, including Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act. They provide baseline information on the state of knowledge of a park. Louis Berger’s Overview and Assessment study included additional research directed to analyzing the historic landscape. The study had four main parts. The first element was a review of existing information about both the archeology and geology of ANAC and KEAQ. The second element was an investigation of old

Archeological Overview and Assessment of Anacostia and Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens

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