Garfield park is a neighborhood park in Washington D.C.Garfield Park
at DC Department of Parks and Recreation Named after

President Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

, it is located at the intersection of 2nd Street and G Street in the

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

neighborhood of

Southeast, Washington, D.C. Southeast (SE or S.E.) is the southeastern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located south of East Capitol Street and east of South Capitol Street. It includes the Capitol Hill and Anacostia neighborhoods, ...

It is bounded by 3rd street on the east and New Jersey Avenue on the west. South Carolina Avenue and F Street bound it on the north, and its southern border is Interstate 695. A large playground is located near its center, and the park also hosts a number of sport amenities such as tennis courts, a volley ball court, bocce courts, and a baseball backstop along with picnic tables and benches. The park is maintained by the DC Department of Parks and Recreation. It is categorized as a neighborhood park, which means that it provides an informal park settings for recreational purposes for the immediate neighborhood.

History

This open space was originally included in the 1791 urban plan for Washington, L'Enfant Plan. The land was purchased by the U.S. government from Daniel Carroll of DuddingtonHistoric American Buildings Survey, C. (1933) Garfield Park
Washington, District of Columbia, 1933 and designated as Reservation No. 17. The site may have been selected by L'Enfant because it contained several natural springs, and he indicated that it should be the site for a grand cascade. Over the years, the lot was significantly reduced in size by railroads, freeways, and the Capitol Power Plant. One of the city's original landowners, Daniel Carroll of Duddington, built Duddington Manor, a grand mansion which faced the park from the north until it was razed in 1886 to be replaced by row houses.LOST CAPITOL HILL: DUDDINGTON
/ref> Indian remains were found during grading excavations, directly south of the estate, which suggests that the location may have been the site of a Nacotchtank settlement.Washington Evening Star, Indian Remains, Etc. Found, August 22, 1883 Part of the park was transferred to the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

for the construction of Interstate 695 in 1969. A basketball court, still accessible from the park, was built underneath the highway to mitigate the loss of park space. Basketball great, Elgin Baylor, who lived a block away on Duddington Place, shot hoops in the park growing up.Elgin Baylor Is Finally Ready To Tell People He Was Great
published by Deadspin At one point, the Park had a wading pool,Washington Evening Star, Two play areas to be left on interracial basis, August 31, 1949 Integration at Garfield Park was noted as being more difficult. At the time the neighborhood was approximately 25% white. The integration of the wading pool and baseball field was deemed unsuccessful due to strong opposition by white neighbors and was discontinued. The Supreme Court's decision, Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 U.S. 497 (1952), the landmark Supreme Court that desegregated public schools in the District of Columbia, ended all segregation within the city. Ownership of the remaining 7.1-acre park was transferred to the

in 1972.

References

{{reflist Capitol Hill Parks in Washington, D.C. Urban public parks