Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens is a
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
site located in the north eastern corner of
Washington, D.C.
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, 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, ...
, and the
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
state border. Nestled near the banks of the
Anacostia River
The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel to empty into the Potomac River at Buzzard Point. ...
and directly west of the
Baltimore–Washington Parkway
The Baltimore–Washington Parkway (also referred to as the B–W Parkway) is a highway in the U.S. state of Maryland, running southwest from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. The road begins at an interchange with U.S. Route 50 (US 50 ...
, Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens preserves a plethora of rare
waterlilies
''Water Lilies'' (or ''Nymphéas'', ) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny, and were the main focus of his artistic p ...
and
lotuses in the cultivated ponds near the river. The park also contains the Kenilworth Marsh, the largest remaining
tidal marsh
A tidal marsh (also known as a type of "tidal wetland") is a marsh found along rivers, coasts and estuaries which floods and drains by the tidal movement of the adjacent estuary, sea or ocean. Tidal marshes are commonly zoned into lower marshes ( ...
in Washington, D.C., and an adjacent recreational area.
Biology
The park is home to a wide variety of biota once native to the region before
urban sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...
took the surrounding land. Amphibians, birds, fish, and insects congregate in the marshland in numbers along with many kinds of plants including wildflowers. According to a species count by the
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center is a biological research center in Maryland. It is one of 17 research centers in the United States run by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The center is located on the grounds of the Patuxent Research R ...
, there were 650 species of insects, 150 species of land plants, 76 species of birds, 18 species of fish, 9 species of mammals, and 8 species of reptiles along with other organisms such as algae, archaeans, bacteria, lichens, mushrooms, and worms. The
Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organ ...
also does an annual bird count around December and the count in 2007 came up with 59 different species of birds. All in all, 257 different species of birds have been sighted for all four seasons, including herons, shorebirds, sparrows, and a host of less commonly seen birds.
Mammals sighted in the park include beavers, muskrats, minks, deer, foxes, and coyotes. In addition, other wetland plants besides the lilies that thrive abundantly include wild rice and the all-season cattail.
Unfortunately, many invasive species such as
snakeheads have been found in the ponds and marshland within the park.
History
![Geese at Kenilworth](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Geese_at_Kenilworth.jpg)
The land that is now Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens originally was purchased by Civil War veteran Walter B. Shaw in the 1880s.
Feeling homesick, Shaw had wild waterlilies native to his home state of Maine brought and planted in the land. When the flowers Shaw brought thrived in the environment, Shaw brought in more plants and started a commercial attraction under the name W.B. Shaw Lily Ponds in 1912.
In 1921, when Shaw died, his daughter, Helen Shaw Fowler, took over the prospering business which was being visited by many dignitaries, including U.S. presidents.
Unfortunately, by this time the nearby Anacostia River had become filled with an excess of silt making navigation on the river difficult. The
was called in to dredge the river which meant that the gardens were in danger of being destroyed. Helen fought to save the gardens and eventually in 1938, U.S. Congress authorized the purchase of the gardens for $15,000 to create the park.
In 1942, the area of today's park located south of the gardens was selected by the congressionally-appointed DC government as the site for a
municipal dump, in which trash was burned in open piles.
The Kenilworth Dump was closed in the 1970s. Considerable
environmental remediation
Environmental remediation deals with the removal of pollution or contaminants from environmental media such as soil, groundwater, sediment, or surface water. Remedial action is generally subject to an array of regulatory requirements, and may al ...
work is needed in this area; for this reason, the
Anacostia Riverwalk Trail
The Anacostia Riverwalk Trail is a multi-use trail system in Washington, DC, which, when complete, will be ~25 miles long, spanning both sides of the Anacostia River, the Washington Channel waterfront, and projecting into neighborhoods away from ...
was routed through the adjacent neighborhood until remediation is complete.
The park today
![KENILWORTH AQUATIC GARDENS, WASHINGTON D](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/KENILWORTH_AQUATIC_GARDENS%2C_WASHINGTON_D.C..jpg)
Today, the park is under the administrative portion of
National Capital Parks-East
National Capital Parks-East (NACE) is an administrative grouping of multiple National Park Service sites east of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., and in the state of Maryland. These sites include:Those not noted as official units are ...
of the National Park Service. The total area of the park is about large and constitutes the water gardens, Kenilworth Marsh, ballfields, and recreational facilities. The gardens have since been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
and also designated a Category II Landmark by the Joint Committee on Landmarks of the National Capital. Portions of Kenilworth Marsh have also undergone restoration in 1992-1993, adding of tidal marsh out of what was
mud flats
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...
.
Notes and references
External links
Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens - Official National Park Service WebsiteKenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens Photo Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenilworth Park And Aquatic Gardens
National Capital Parks-East
Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.
Parks in Washington, D.C.
Protected areas established in 1938
National Park Service areas in Washington, D.C.
1938 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Former landfills in the United States
Water gardens