Marion Park: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, National Capital Parks-East
Torkelson J and Garrison S. 2020. Marion Park: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, National Capital Parks-East. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 600073. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. National Capital Area Office, Washington, DC / CRIS-CL Database
Inventory Unit Description: The Marion Park cultural landscape is located in SE Washington D.C. and encompasses the entirety of United States Reservation 018. The cultural landscape is situated along South Carolina Avenue SE and is bound by 4th Street SE to the west, E Street SE to the north and south, and 6th Street SE to the east. The Marion Park cultural landscape derives national significance as a component of Pierre L’Enfant’s 1791 Plan of the City of Washington. The cultural landscape was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1997 as a contributing element to the L’Enfant Plan, with significance based on Criteria A, B, and C. The period of significance for that nomination is 1790-1942. The cultural landscape was also listed in the Capitol Hill Historic District in 1976 (with a boundary increase in 2003). The cultural landscape was listed with significance in the areas of Community Planning, Military, and Other-Local Neighborhood History, with significant periods that included 1700-1799, 1800-1899, and 1900-[1976]. The 2003 boundary increase nomination for the historic district was listed with significance based on Criteria A and C, and a period of significance of 1790-1945. Original landscape characteristics and features from the period of significance remain in place at Marion Park, including its use as passive and active park, gentle sloping topography, gridded composition, views of adjacent historic landmarks, modern planting scheme, turtle play structure, and several small-scale features (including benches and fencing). This CLI recommends that the Marion Park cultural landscape’s significance be refined and expanded to encompass the following four periods: 1. 1791-1792, with national significance under Criteria A, B, and C, based on the association with the L’Enfant Plan and Andrew Ellicott’s modified plan; 2. 1884-1905, with local significance under Criteria A and C, based on the OPBG’s construction and improvement of Marion Park; 3. 1925-1933, with local significance under Criterion A, based on the racialized tension and Civil Rights discrimination against black residents that resulted in exclusionary changes to Marion Park’s design; and 4. 1962-1970, with local significance under Criterion A, based on the mid-century Modernist redesign of Marion Park and the subsequent beautification projects undertaken in the park as part of Lady Bird Johnson’s Beautification program in Washington, D.C.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Torkelson, Jacob; Garrison, Shannon
- Date of Issue
- 2020-09-10
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- NACE , NCR
- Keywords
- Beautification program, Capitol Hill Historic District, civil rights, community planning, community planning and development, designed landscape, ethnic heritage-Black, fountain, Francis Marion, landscape architecture, L'Enfant Plan, local neighborhood history, military, Office of Public Buildings and Grounds, picturesque, Pierre L'Enfant, politics-government, public park, recreation, reservation, segretation, social history, transportation, Washington D.C.