Glen Echo Park a Walking Tour Glen Echo Park Is Administered by the George Washington Memorial Parkway
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Glen Echo Park A Walking Tour Glen Echo Park is administered by the George Washington Memorial Parkway In 1890, Discovery Creek Located on Visitor Center and Bridge over brothers Path into Children’s the first 1 2 the park 4 Popcorn Gallery Minnehaha Creek Edward Museum, a floor of and Edwin Living Classrooms the Arcade Baltzley created the Glen Echo on program, offers children’s programs Building, the Visitor Center features a the Potomac real estate development that continue the Chautauqua ideal timeline of the park’s history as well hoping to lure Washingtonians of teaching about the natural world. as documentaries and historic videos to live in the beauty and serenity Discovery Creek Children’s Museum of the park. The National Park Service of this new suburban community. is located in a building that once also offers free guided walking Glen Echo became the site of the housed the electric supply for the tours of the park. For tour times and 53rd Chautauqua Assembly, offering amusement park. reservations for groups of 10 people summer courses in the liberal and or more, please call 301-320-1400. practical arts. The crown jewel of Photo by Candace Clifford the Chautauqua was an 8,000- The Popcorn Gallery seat amphitheater that sat atop Photo by Bruce Douglas Minnehaha Creek and used the water flow to power the speaker Clara Barton National Historic Site Trolley and The neon system. During the amusement park 5 Entrance sign marks era, the amphitheater became the The Baltzley brothers donated a the original The style of the entrance Midway, home to many rides and house and land to Clara Barton, the entrance to changed over the years, as did the style of the trolleys. entertainments. founder of the American Red Cross, the park. During the Chautauqua in an effort to bring prestige to their era, horse-drawn carriages pulled up Glen Echo community. Built in 1891, to the entrance. Beginning in 1897, it was first used as a warehouse for Photo by National Park Service trolleys rode the rails to the park disaster relief supplies. In 1897, Miss A park ranger explains the timeline from Georgetown and continued Barton made it her home and the to visiting students. on to the Cabin John Bridge, headquarters for the American Red approximately one mile west of the Cross. Thinking the house looked The Popcorn Gallery, which served park. Because the trolley company too somber, Miss Barton changed as a refreshment stand during the Photo by Meredith Forster Photo by Meredith owned the park, it promoted amusement park era, opened in the original granite façade of the the park to increase both park Trolley passes often promoted the park. residence to an elegant Victorian Discovery Creek Children’s Museum teaches 2006 as an exhibition space operated attendance and trolley An etching shows the original amphitheater, which wooden façade, retaining only the children about the natural world. by the Glen Echo Park Partnership ridership. Trolley service became the Midway during the amusement park granite corners. The National Park for Arts and Culture. Throughout continued until January era. The Midway was destroyed in 1956 when it Service offers free daily guided tours the year, the Partnership organizes 1960. became too expensive to maintain. The stone Caretaker’s Cottage dates of the site, except on Thanksgiving, exhibitions that feature the work of from the Chautauqua era and was The trestle that supported the Glen Christmas, and New Year’s Day. To local and regional artists. The entrance to the originally a two-story structure. Echo trolley – the primary mode of make reservations for groups of 10 or park was reinvented Today, the remaining first level of the public transportation that carried more, please call 301-320-1410. many times before building houses the park’s resident visitors to the park during the settling on the Art Deco glassblowing studio. Chautauqua and early amusement style in 1940. Installed park years – is visible from the bridge in 2003, the current as you look toward MacArthur neon “Glen Echo Park” Boulevard. Photos by National Park Service sign is a replica of the 1940 sign. The Popcorn Gallery showcases the work of local and regional artists. Horse-drawn carriages and trolley cars at the park’s entrance 6 Chautauqua Tower, Yellow Barn, It also provides space for two and Candy Corner additional artist studios. The building was rebuilt in 2007. The stone tower, once an entrance gate and bell tower, is the only remaining intact building from the Chautauqua era. During the amusement park era, it housed the The Caretaker’s Cottage once had two stories. park superintendent and security Photo by National Park Service Clara Barton on her front lawn offices for the park. Renovated in Photo by Sharon McClintic Photo by Sharon The Minnehaha Creek and trolley trestle 2008, the tower now houses two artist studios. The Yellow Barn The Yellow Barn was built in 1914 and served as the amusement park’s In 1972, six woodworking and repair shop. Since 3 Yurt Village cupcake-shaped 1994 it has housed the park’s resident sod-roofed yurts painting and drawing program. (an experimental housing design based on traditional Mongolian dwelling huts) were Candy Corner in the 1950s erected in the park on the site of the demolished roller coaster to offer resident artists much-needed studio The Candy Corner sold sweets space. In 1975, the park’s fledgling – cotton candy, candied apples, pottery classes moved out of the old lollipops, and ice cream – during amusement park cafeteria and into the amusement park era. Rebuilt in the yurts, establishing a permanent 2007, this space has been used for Photo by Deborah Dubois home for Glen Echo Pottery. The yurts Photo by Jonathan Charry classroom space and children’s art Photo by Deborah Lange programs. The yurts provide studio space. also provide space for other resident A pottery artist creates a bowl The stone tower in the 1920s studio artists. at Glen Echo Pottery. Yellow Barn artists paint the carousel horses. EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA™ About Glen Echo Park This brochure was generously written and designed by Deborah Lange. Historic photographs were Glen Echo Park is a national park like no other. In 1891, it was home generously provided by Richard Cook, Harold Silver, Frederick W. Schneider III, and George Kiefer. to a Chautauqua Assembly, an educational summer camp where Banner photographs (left to right): National Park Service, Meryl Silver, Daniel Schreiber, Bruce Douglas people could study the liberal arts and sciences. From the late 1890s The Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture, Inc. is funded by an operating grant from until 1968, Glen Echo Park was a popular amusement park. During the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive, and also by funding from the Montgomery County government and the Arts the 1960s, the private owners of the park tried unsuccessfully to and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. In addition, individual, foundation, and corporate redevelop the site as high-rise apartment buildings. The federal donors generously support the Partnership. All programs are produced in cooperation with the government acquired Glen Echo Park in 1970 and the National Park National Park Service and Montgomery County, Maryland. Service (NPS) reopened it to the public in 1971 as an arts park. In This publication has been financed in part by the Montgomery County Historic Preservation June 2002, the NPS transferred several major management functions Commission Grant Fund which is administered by the HPC and the Montgomery County Planning Board of the M-NCPPC, and with State Funds from the Maryland Heritage Area Authority, an of the park to Montgomery County, Maryland. The county in instrumentality of the State of Maryland. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily turn formed the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture, reflect the views or policies of the Maryland Heritage Area Authority. Also, this publication is made a nonprofit organization, to manage the facilities and the arts, possible in part by funding from the Heritage Tourism Alliance of Montgomery County. cultural, and educational programs at the park. Recognizing that The National Park Service preserves and protects over 390 treasures - natural, cultural, and Glen Echo Park is a treasure for the entire region, Montgomery recreational sites across the country. Experience Your America! County, the State of Maryland, and the federal government committed over $22 million toward renovating the park’s facilities. This multi-year rehabilitation was completed in 2009. Today, more than 450,000 people visit the park annually for festivals, exhibitions, social dances, children’s theater, art classes, and ranger-led tours. Glen Echo Park A Walking Tour In the past, Constructed in stages, the Coaster over time until the ride covered the The Bumper Coaster Dips various roller Bumper Car 7 Dips started out with seven dips. area from the Chautauqua Tower to Car Pavilion coasters occupied 11 Pavilion New dips and climbs were added the Minnehaha Creek. was originally what is now the called the grassy area near the yurts and the Skooter when it came to the park park flagpole. The largest of them, in 1923. In 1995, the National Park the Coaster Dips, arrived in 1921. Service organized a major volunteer effort that included constructing a foundation wall, replacing floorboards, and stabilizing the structure. The Bumper Car Pavilion Photo by Peter Somerville Riders get ready to bump and is now a popular venue for dances, Contra dancers in the Bumper Car Pavilion dodge in competitive fun. concerts, private rentals, classes, and special events.