RIVERBEND 189 PARK R Great ive 495 r Description Falls Ro ad d R B r s ic ll k a ya F r d Ro 190 ad Great Falls Park C&O CANAL NATIONAL American Legion MARYLAND HISTORICAL Memorial Bridge PARK Exit 40 C NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR a Naval Surface Warfare Center b in 495 (Carderock Division) J Washington, D.C. the Great Falls of the Potomac. Along its route, o h Maryland n 738 P C M k a a thur B w O r cAr oule Clara Barton National Historic Site l d Exit 41 vard y d e ro the parkway also connects several important D ck o G Clara Ba m e rton i o Parkw n rg a io e y ROCK n to Glen Echo Park w historic sites, memorials, and scenic and D n Exit 43 r i Pik CREEK v e n e u R 193 Turkey Run Park PARK y Parkway e recreation areas in the Washington, D.C., k Headquarters r u Exit 44 T l Foundation Document Overview d a i R n 193 M.D. n o metropolitan area. l m VA. u 738 r o R a C F d a e D 495 123 Claude Moore George Washington Memorial Parkway Colonial Farm 123 The Capper-Cramton Act prescribed the 267 Exit 45 t mi Run Little Pim G Falls Fort Marcy e Chain Bridge o construction of two parkway segments along District of Columbia | Maryland | Virginia rg WASHINGTON, e W 123 ranch a the Potomac River. The Maryland section Exit 46 B 267 lf s u h D.C. G i n g t would be built from Fort Washington to the n o u n 50 R Francis Scott Key n o Memorial Bridge ds M 7 al P n e ot Theodore Roosevelt Island o m om Great Falls and, on the Virginia side, from D ac o River Spout Runria l 29 Parkway Pkwy 395 Historic District of Columbia boundary tunnel ay Exit 72 George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate w igh Theodore Roosevelt H Lee Memorial Bridge U.S. 66 U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial Capitol Lincoln Washington Netherlands Carillon Memorial Monument to the Great Falls. Already under construction 50 Arlington Memorial Bridge Arlington House, Memorial Ave Lady Bird Johnson Park 66 The Robert E. Lee Memorial in Virginia, as part of an earlier planning Women in Military Service LBJ Memorial Grove for America Memorial ARLINGTON on the Potomac NATIONAL effort for the George Washington Bicentennial CEMETERY 110 Navy and Marine Memorial River Columbia Island Marina Pentagon 50 Celebration in 1932, was the Mount Vernon Gravelly Point Roaches ia Roaches Run Run st co Waterfowl Sanctuary a n Memorial Highway, running from Arlington A VIRGINIA Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., to 395 Ronald Reagan Washington Mile Four National Ru 1 n Airport Mount Vernon. The Capper-Cramton Act R included this roadway, begun in 1928, under Washington Sailing Marina E V I VA. D.C. D.C. the authorization for the George Washington Daingerfield Island R MD. 295 Memorial Parkway. This initial southern CITY OF 210 ALEXANDRIA section, opened in 1932, pioneered many 395 495 OXON COVE principles of roadway design including PARK 95 495 Washington Street C am Exit 177 eron 495 Ru Woodrow Wilson limited access construction, grade-separated 95 n Memorial Bridge Hunting 1 Cr Jones Point Lighthouse intersections, cloverleaf interchanges, and Belle Haven Road North landscape design. Belle Haven Belle Haven Park Marina FORT Dyke Marsh G M FOOTE C e Wildlife Preserve o PARK o The northern section of the parkway, from u A 95 r n Telephone g t e M V W Food service e 210 Arlington Memorial Bridge to I-495, was built O r a Morningside Lane n s T h o Picnic area i n n O 629 in stages starting in the 1940s and reaching T g r B P RO t AD a HARMONY Alexandria Avenue Bridge o CRE Sailing i E K HALL (Stone Bridge) n l completion in 1962. This northern section Boat ramp American Horticultural M Society at River Farm e m MARYLAND Li tt Hiking le Collingwood Library and o displayed the latest in road engineering H Museum on Americanism r u i Collingwood n d a t a i l Picnic Area Metro station n o P R g t a methods for its time—a wide, gently curving n C u r r k H George Washington e e Fort Hunt t w r Memorial Parkway property k o 235 a Park F y roadway with a grassy median, low stone guide Parkway overlook, pullout, or parking lot FORT 1 Mount Vernon Trail WASHINGTON walls, and soaring steel-and-concrete arched 235 PARK Potomac Heritage Mount Vernon Riverside Park National Scenic Trail D Estate and Gardens O bridges. In 1989, the George Washington (no bicycles allowed) G U P E IS CA TAW C AY R CREE 0 1 4 Kilometers E K E Memorial Parkway running along the K National Colonial PISCATAWAY PARK 0 1 4 Miles Farm Maryland side of the Potomac River was renamed Clara Barton Parkway. Construction George Washington Memorial Parkway was established by Congress on May on the northern portion of this roadway, 29, 1930, through Public Law 71-284, the Capper-Cramton Act. The parkway from MacArthur Boulevard to Glen Echo was runs along the Potomac River through two states—Virginia and Maryland—as completed in 1965 and the southern portion, Contact Information well as the District of Columbia, protecting the landscape and natural shoreline from the Maryland/District of Columbia line For more information about the George Washington Memorial Parkway Foundation Document, of the river while offering magnificent scenic vistas of Washington, D.C., and to Chain Bridge was completed in 1970. contact: [email protected] or (703)289-2500 or write to: Superintendent, George Washington Memorial Parkway Headquarters, Turkey Run Park, McLean, VA 22101 Purpose Significance Fundamental Resources and Values Other Important Resources and Values Significance statements express why George Washington Fundamental resources and values are those features, systems, George Washington Memorial Parkway contains other Memorial Parkway resources and values are important processes, experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, smells, or resources and values that may not be fundamental to the enough to merit national park unit designation. Statements other attributes determined to merit primary consideration purpose and significance of the park, but are important to of significance describe why an area is important within a during planning and management processes because they are consider in management and planning decisions. These are global, national, regional, and systemwide context. These essential to achieving the purpose of the park and maintaining referred to as other important resources and values. statements are linked to the purpose of the park unit, and its significance. George Washington Memorial Parkway has the following are supported by data, research, and consensus. Significance • The Parkway Driving Experience other important resources and values: statements describe the distinctive nature of the park and inform management decisions, focusing efforts on preserving • Transportation Infrastructure • U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial. and protecting the most important resources and values of the park unit. • Vistas and Views • Netherlands Carillon. • Mount Vernon Memorial Highway was the first • Memorialization and Celebration of American Ideals • Jones Point Lighthouse and Yard. comprehensively designed modern motorway built by the • Recreational Opportunities • Fort Marcy. federal government. It is based on the idea of a landscaped, park-like roadway corridor that protected riverfront lands • Potomac River Shoreline and Gorge • Fort Hunt Park. and today includes an extension north to the capital beltway, as well as Spout Run Parkway and Clara Barton Parkway. • Great Falls Park, including the Patowmack Canal • Glen Echo Park Historic District. • At the time of its construction between 1929 and 1932, • Arlington Memorial Bridge / Memorial Avenue Corridor • Biodiversity of Natural Communities. Mount Vernon Memorial Highway pioneered many • Museum Collections. principles of roadway design that influenced federal roadway GeorGe WashinGton MeMorial ParkWay projects throughout the nation, such as limited access is a scenic roadway honoring the Interpretive Themes • Archeological Resources. construction, grade-separated intersections, cloverleaf nation’s first president, that protects and interchanges, and landscape design, many of which are still • Education. preserves cultural and natural resources in use today. • Navy and Marine Memorial. along the Potomac River below Great Interpretive themes are often described as the key stories • The 15-mile-long Potomac Gorge, a large portion of which Falls to Mount Vernon, and is part or concepts that visitors should understand after visiting • Cultural Landscapes. of a comprehensive system of parks, is managed by the George Washington Memorial Parkway, a park—they define the most important ideas or concepts parkways, and recreational areas is one of the most biologically diverse natural areas in the communicated to visitors about a park unit. Themes are • Historic Structures. surrounding the nation’s capital. national park system. derived from—and should reflect—park purpose, significance, resources, and values. The set of interpretive themes is • By protecting the natural shoreline of the Potomac River, the complete when it provides the structure necessary for park George Washington Memorial Parkway protects a defining staff to develop opportunities for visitors to explore and relate feature of the nation’s capital and provides opportunities to all of the park significances and fundamental resources to experience iconic scenic vistas of and from Washington, and values. D.C., and the Potomac Gorge. • Cultural Resources • George Washington Memorial Parkway • Diverse Recreation Opportunities in an • Natural Resources Urban Setting • Scenic Values • George Washington • Research, Public Education, and Stewardship Purpose Significance Fundamental Resources and Values Other Important Resources and Values Significance statements express why George Washington Fundamental resources and values are those features, systems, George Washington Memorial Parkway contains other Memorial Parkway resources and values are important processes, experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, smells, or resources and values that may not be fundamental to the enough to merit national park unit designation.