Maryland, Prince George's County, Greenbelt
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This is a place of contrast. Once this land was covered with virgin forest, then it was farmland, and then a proposed housing development. Now it is an alluring refuge within an ever-growing sea of development. Here you can find wilderness, wildlife, and solitude—only twelve miles from downtown Washington.
In 1875, this land was denuded; farmhouses, fencelines, and dirt paths crisscrossed the landscape. Tobacco, corn, and grain grew where now maples and elms tower. A few hints of that era survive, but this is now a land dominated by nature. The trees, underbrush, and wildlife here collectively tell the story of nature’s recovery. They repeatedly tell us: when left alone, nature will heal itself.
[text with image lower left] The 174-site campground is open year-round. It is the closest campground to downtown Washington.
[text with image lower middle] Greenbelt Park has become an urban oasis. Over the past 60 years, the population of the surrounding land has grown from about 3,000 to more than 20,000.
[text with image lower right] The park is a refuge for both people and wildlife. Park staff and volunteers work at reforestation, wildlife management, improving water quality, and bringing greater awareness to visitors.
[text with map on right] The park includes a campground, three picnic areas, and nature and bridle trails. The Baltimore-Washington Parkway links the park with downtown Washington, twelve miles south.
Dedicated in 1954, the parkway (a unit of the National Park Service) is the historic gateway to the Nation’s Capital for visitors arriving from the eastern seaboard.
(Environment • Horticulture & Forestry) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
This is a place of contrast. Once this land was covered with virgin forest, then it was farmland, and then a proposed housing development. Now it is an alluring refuge within an ever-growing sea of development. Here you can find wilderness, wildlife, and solitude—only twelve miles from downtown Washington.In 1875, this land was denuded; farmhouses, fencelines, and dirt paths crisscrossed the landscape. Tobacco, corn, and grain grew where now maples and elms tower. A few hints of that era survive, but this is now a land dominated by nature. The trees, underbrush, and wildlife here collectively tell the story of nature’s recovery. They repeatedly tell us: when left alone, nature will heal itself.
[text with image lower left] The 174-site campground is open year-round. It is the closest campground to downtown Washington.
[text with image lower middle] Greenbelt Park has become an urban oasis. Over the past 60 years, the population of the surrounding land has grown from about 3,000 to more than 20,000.
[text with image lower right] The park is a refuge for both people and wildlife. Park staff and volunteers work at reforestation, wildlife management, improving water quality, and bringing greater awareness to visitors.
[text with map on right] The park includes a campground, three picnic areas, and nature and bridle trails. The Baltimore-Washington Parkway links the park with downtown Washington, twelve miles south.
Dedicated in 1954, the parkway (a unit of the National Park Service) is the historic gateway to the Nation’s Capital for visitors arriving from the eastern seaboard.
(Environment • Horticulture & Forestry) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Built as speculative housing by John Gauler, this pair of wood-and-stucco residences is a rare example of a "twin" Prairie School design. Their architect is internationally recognized for his distinctive designs and for his early contributions to the field of "land planning." The vertical composition of these houses, a hallmark of Griffin's work, shows his skill in adapting Prairie-style principles to a relatively small, narrow urban site.
This 13.06 acre park commemorates the treaty of 1816 which established the land boundaries of the Pottawatomie Indians.
Long ago, Native American Indians lived on this land. Before recorded history, the Mound Builders traveled the area, perhaps along the nearby Ridge. Later the Illinois Tribe hunted game and planted maize. Last it was the Ottawa, the Chippewa, and especially the Pottawatomie who lived here. The Pottawatomie, which means "People of the Place of the Fire", lived in villages on the Indian Boundary Line which runs through this Park.
This keystone, taken from the arch of the Washington Street entrance, in the City Hall Building Chicago, which was erected in 1877, replaced by the present building in 1909.
Philip Rogers, born in Ireland, came to Rogers Park about 1834 and bought 1600 acres from the government. First lived in a log house at Lunt and Western Avenues. Died in 1856. Village named after him in 1844.
The 108-mile canal from Philadelphia linked this region's anthracite coal fields with industrial markets along the U.S. east coast. In 1828 the Schuylkill Navigation Company completed the canal to Port Carbon, which was its northern terminus until 1853.
Cold Springs, a rural one room school, was built near cold water springs on the Thomas Baskerville farm, near Mitchellville, Northern Sumner County. During the Civil War the school was a hospital for Confederate troops quartered at Camp Trousdale.
2.8 miles northeast is the site of Cold Spring School. It was built on land donated in May 1857 by Thomas Baskerville for a school and meetinghouse. Early in the Civil War, it was used by Camp Trousdale as a military hospital. There, in 1866, David Lipscomb organized the Portland Church of Christ. Landowners Jim and Bill McGlothlin gave the schoolhouse to the citizens of Portland for a museum of local history. In September 1975, it was relocated to Richland Park.
In May 1861, the Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation to raise and equip the Provisional Army of Tennessee and train the units at camps throughout the state. Camp Trousdale was established—initially at Richland (present-day Portland)—as the main concentration point for companies formed in Middle Tennessee. The camp was named for former governor William Trousdale of Gallatin. Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer (1812-1862) was its first commander, with his headquarters at the home of Thomas Buntin near the present Maple Hill Cemetery.
One and one-quarter miles northeast at Mitchellville Station on the L&N Railroad stood Fort Smith. There a railhead began as a Union supply depot for General Rosecran’s army at Nashville. With South Tunnel destroyed by General Morgan’s Confederate raiders, supplies were transported over land by escorted wagon trains. When the railroad reopened on November 26, 1862, Fort Smith, under the command of Colonel George P. Smith, Commander of 129th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, served as a garrison for Union soldiers guarding the railroad from Confederate guerrilla activity.
James Duval constructed this house between 1850 and 1853, and James and Mariah Groves owned and occupied it during the Civil War. Mariah Groves lived here until her death in 1897. Groves family members shown in the photograph reminisced about soldiers who knocked on their doors (one died on that front step) and about nearby Camp Trousdale, a major Confederate training camp.