Anacostia Park: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, National Capital Parks-East
Torkelson J. 2021. Anacostia Park: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, National Capital Parks-East. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 600088. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. National Capital Area Office, Washington, DC / CRIS-CL Database
Inventory Unit Description: The Anacostia Park cultural landscape (Reservation 343, Sections C, D, E) is a 195.53-acre portion of the larger, 157-acre Anacostia Park, a recreational landscape located in Southeast Washington, D.C. Anacostia Park is the second largest park in the District of Columbia, running north-south on both sides of the Anacostia River and extending from the District Line to the north to Poplar Point to the south. Anacostia Park is divided into several smaller sections. From south to north on the eastern shore of the Anacostia River, these are: Section C (Poplar Point), Section D (Fairlawn), Section E (Twining), Section F (River Terrace), Section G (Kenilworth Park & Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens), as well as Langston Golf Course and the RFK Stadium area on the western shore. The study area for this Cultural Landscape Inventory is comprised of Anacostia Park Sections C, D, and E. (For a list of other character areas identified in Anacostia Park, see Appendix E). Anacostia Park is a unit of the National Park Service and managed by National Capital Parks-East (NACE). This CLI recommends a single expansive period of significance that is further refined into sub-periods based on each criterion and area of significance. The period extends from pre 1668-1976, representing the history of the banks of the Anacostia River from the pre-colonial era to the National Park Service’s Bicentennial-era investments in the cultural landscape as a model for community-engaged design in federal parks. Within the larger period of significance, the CLI’s criteria and areas of significance recognize overlapping sub-periods associated with important movements and historical events, significant persons, significant architectural works, and the potential to yield significant archeological findings. The extended period of significance spans pre-contact with the Nacotchtank, European colonization, the subsequent displacement and dispossession of the Nacotchtanks, the 18th- and 19th-century development of the Anacostia region as part of the District of Columbia, the reclamation of the Anacostia River and its flats, the Bonus Army occupation, the 20th-century development of the Anacostia River flats for use as a park and recreation area, and the refinement of the cultural landscape design in response to community concerns.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Torkelson, Jacob
- Date of Issue
- 2021-07-29
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- NACE , NCR
- Keywords
- Anacostia River, Bicentennial, Bonus Army, CCC, Civil Works Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps, Community Planning and Development, conservation, CWA, ethnic heritage-Black, exploration-settlement, Fairlawn, freeway, golf, Great Depression, Irwin W Payne, Kenilworth Park, landscape architecture, Langston Golf Course, Nacotchtank, Native American, Naval Recieving Station, New Deal, Office of Public Buildings and Grounds, politics/government, Poplar Point, Public Works Administration, PWA, recreation, RFK Stadium, River Terrace, segregation, social history, sports, Thomas C Jeffers, transportation, Twining, Washington D.C., Works Progress Administration, World War II, WPA