National Park Service Cultural Landscapes Inventory Sherman
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National Park Service Cultural Landscapes Inventory 2011 Sherman Circle Rock Creek Park - DC Street Plan Reservations Table of Contents Inventory Unit Summary & Site Plan Concurrence Status Geographic Information and Location Map Management Information National Register Information Chronology & Physical History Analysis & Evaluation of Integrity Condition Treatment Bibliography & Supplemental Information Sherman Circle Rock Creek Park - DC Street Plan Reservations Inventory Unit Summary & Site Plan Inventory Summary The Cultural Landscapes Inventory Overview: CLI General Information: Purpose and Goals of the CLI The Cultural Landscapes Inventory (CLI), a comprehensive inventory of all cultural landscapes in the national park system, is one of the most ambitious initiatives of the National Park Service (NPS) Park Cultural Landscapes Program. The CLI is an evaluated inventory of all landscapes having historical significance that are listed on or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, or are otherwise managed as cultural resources through a public planning process and in which the NPS has or plans to acquire any legal interest. The CLI identifies and documents each landscape’s location, size, physical development, condition, landscape characteristics, character-defining features, as well as other valuable information useful to park management. Cultural landscapes become approved CLIs when concurrence with the findings is obtained from the park superintendent and all required data fields are entered into a national database. In addition, for landscapes that are not currently listed on the National Register and/or do not have adequate documentation, concurrence is required from the State Historic Preservation Officer or the Keeper of the National Register. The CLI, like the List of Classified Structures, assists the NPS in its efforts to fulfill the identification and management requirements associated with Section 110(a) of the National Historic Preservation Act, National Park Service Management Policies (2006), and Director’s Order #28: Cultural Resource Management. Since launching the CLI nationwide, the NPS, in response to the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), is required to report information that respond to NPS strategic plan accomplishments. Two GPRA goals are associated with the CLI: bringing certified cultural landscapes into good condition (Goal 1a7) and increasing the number of CLI records that have complete, accurate, and reliable information (Goal 1b2B). Scope of the CLI The information contained within the CLI is gathered from existing secondary sources found in park libraries and archives and at NPS regional offices and centers, as well as through on-site reconnaissance of the existing landscape. The baseline information collected provides a comprehensive look at the historical development and significance of the landscape, placing it in context of the site’s overall significance. Documentation and analysis of the existing landscape identifies character-defining characteristics and features, and allows for an evaluation of the landscape’s overall integrity and an assessment of the landscape’s overall condition. The CLI also provides an illustrative site plan that indicates major features within the inventory unit. Unlike cultural landscape reports, the CLI does not provide management recommendations or treatment guidelines for the cultural landscape. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Page 1 of 124 Sherman Circle Rock Creek Park - DC Street Plan Reservations Inventory Unit Description: The Sherman Circle cultural landscape is located in the Petworth neighborhood of northwest Washington, DC, a largely residential area bounded by Kennedy Street to the north, Georgia Avenue to the west, Rock Creek Church Road to the south, and North Capitol Street to the east. Covering approximately 3.44 acres, the cultural landscape is comprised of five small urban parks administered by the National Park Service’s Rock Creek Park unit: Sherman Circle (U.S. Reservation 369), U.S. Reservation 436, U.S. Reservation 438, U.S. Reservation 447, and U.S. Reservation 448. Sherman Circle is the largest of these reservations and occupies the center of the site, with Reservation 436 to its northeast, Reservation 438 to its southwest, Reservation 447 to its northwest, and Reservation 448 to its southeast. The individual parks are defined and separated from one another by the surrounding system of interconnecting roadways. Sherman Circle is bounded by a vehicular rotary of the same name. Illinois Avenue, Kansas Avenue, 7th Street, and Crittenden Street radiate outward from this rotary, while Decatur Street and Buchanan Street are located one block to the north and south, respectively. The four remaining reservations are triangular in shape and occupy the irregular parcels of land carved out by this streetscape. Although separate and distinct NPS holdings, all five parks are closely related to one another. Because of this shared history, the decision was made to document them as a single cultural landscape rather than as individual properties. There is little existing National Register of Historic Places documentation within the Petworth neighborhood. The cultural landscape is not currently listed on the National Register or located within the boundaries of a property previously determined to be eligible for listing. However, this CLI determined that the site is eligible for listing on the National Register according to Significance Criterion C in the area of community planning and development. The basis for this claim rests on the landscape’s important role in carrying Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s 18th-century plan of Washington, DC, beyond the city’s original borders. In 1888, Congress passed legislation that implemented the L’Enfant plan throughout the District of Columbia. Prior to this time, nearly two decades of unrestrained development had led to the creation of several outlying subdivisions that did not easily link with one another or Washington’s preexisting city street grid. From a planning perspective, Petworth is significant because it was the first new neighborhood whose design reflected the old city’s existing streetscape. Nowhere is this association more clear than the Sherman Circle cultural landscape. Sherman Circle and its four associated reservations first appeared on paper in 1889 as part of the original plat of Petworth. Traffic circles and their adjoining triangles are common within the old city, as L’Enfant used them to mark the major intersections of north-south streets, east-west streets, and diagonal avenues. These parcels are much rarer elsewhere within the District, and Sherman Circle is one of only two outlying traffic circles to match the size of those within the old city. As such, the Sherman Circle cultural landscape ensures that Petworth was not only the first new development modeled after the original L’Enfant City, but also the truest reiteration of its design. Although platted in 1889, Sherman Circle and Reservations 436, 438, 447, and 448 were not actually created on the ground until 1923, when the city streets were finally cut through. By 1936, Sherman Cultural Landscapes Inventory Page 2 of 124 Sherman Circle Rock Creek Park - DC Street Plan Reservations Circle and these reservations had been developed as urban parks. The understated landscape design by Irving W. Payne called for the installation of concrete walkways and sidewalks, and the planting of trees, shrubs, grass, and perennials to reinforce the individual sites’ interconnectedness and their connections to the surrounding neighborhood. The periods of significance for the Sherman Circle cultural landscape are 1889 and 1923-1936. These dates denote the initial platting of the Petworth neighborhood and the subsequent development of the site. The period ends with the final execution of Payne’s plan. This CLI finds that the Sherman Circle cultural landscape retains integrity to the period of significance and is in good condition overall. Subsequent changes have altered the landscape, especially with regard to materials, but the site’s historic character is still in evidence today and the few surviving original trees provide tangible links with the past. The cultural landscape effectively evokes the historic significance of the property and retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, and feeling. No immediate corrective action is required to maintain its current condition. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Page 3 of 124 Sherman Circle Rock Creek Park - DC Street Plan Reservations Site Plan 2011 existing conditions plan of the Sherman Circle cultural landscape (NCR CLP 2011). This plan was adapted from a1998 National Park Service planting plan (DSC TIC 845_80026). Cultural Landscapes Inventory Page 4 of 124 Sherman Circle Rock Creek Park - DC Street Plan Reservations Property Level and CLI Numbers Inventory Unit Name: Sherman Circle Property Level: Component Landscape CLI Identification Number: 600165 Parent Landscape: 600163 Park Information Park Name and Alpha Code: Rock Creek Park - DC Street Plan Reservations -ROCR Park Organization Code: 345A Subunit/District Name Alpha Code: Rock Creek Park - DC Street Plan Reservations - ROCR Park Administrative Unit: Rock Creek Park Cultural Landscapes Inventory Page 5 of 124 Sherman Circle Rock Creek Park - DC Street Plan Reservations Concurrence Status Inventory Status: Complete Completion Status Explanatory Narrative: This CLI represents a continuation of the NPS