Bryce Park: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Rock Creek Park, National Park Service
Lester M. 2019. Bryce Park: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Rock Creek Park, National Park Service. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 600167. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. National Capital Area Office, Washington, DC / CRIS-CL Database
Bryce Park is a 0.59-acre park located in Northwest Washington, D.C. The quasi-triangular park is bounded by Wisconsin Avenue on the west, Garfield Street on the south, 36th Place NW on the east, and Massachusetts Avenue NW on the north. The park is comprised of United States Reservation 700, managed by the National Capital Region, Rock Creek Park. The landscape that encompasses Bryce Park was first granted to English colonists as part of a 1632 land grant from King Charles I to George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore. However, it remained unplanned and undeveloped through the 18th century, when it was included within the boundaries of the new District of Columbia. In the 19th century, the cultural landscape was eventually platted within the Massachusetts Avenue Heights neighborhood, as speculative developers anticipated the extension of Massachusetts Avenue (northwest from the city core) and the increasing development of Northwest Washington. The landscape boundaries were defined by the early 20th century, but the site remained wooded until the early 1920s, when a gas station was constructed on the northern section of the site. Between 1956 and 1958, the National Park Service acquired the site, with the intention of creating a small park for the surrounding neighborhoods in Northwest Washington, D.C. NPS landscape architect William Belden designed the park in 1962, and construction began in 1963. Bryce Park was dedicated in 1965, commemorating former British Ambassador to the United States James Bryce. Between 1965 and 1968, the National Park Service oversaw minor beautification improvements at the park, as Belden’s planting designs were refined. Bryce Park derives local significance as a neighborhood park constructed to serve the developing neighborhoods of Northwest Washington in the mid-20th century. It is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A for its association with the creation of small parks in Washington, D.C. The recommended period of significance is 1962-1968, encompassing the initial designs for the park in 1962 and extending to 1968 to include the construction, dedication, and initial beautification improvements of the park.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Lester, Molly
- Date of Issue
- 2019-08-15
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- NCR , ROCR
- Keywords
- Bryce Park, Community Planning and Development, DC Small Parks, Historic Designed Landscape, James Bryce, Landscape Architecture, Northwest Washington, NW, Pierre L'Enfant, Plan of the City of Washington, Plaza, Public Space, Rock Creek Park, ROCR, Square, Triangle Park, United States Reservation 700, Washington D.C., William Belden
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Human Use | Cultural Landscapes | Cultural Landscapes