Attachment18.docx

Attachment 18 Fort Washington Themes

Primary Theme:

“The unique view scape of Fort Washington Park, located on a bluff overlooking the Potomac River, enables the visitor to see the land and its changing use through the eyes of the people who lived here and shaped the history of the area.”

· The bluffs that make up Fort Washington Park were part of an inland sea that receded and was carved out by the Potomac River over millennium. The formation is one of the best places in the world for marine fossils relating to the Paleocene/Eocene eras.

· The Piscataway Nation claimed this land as their own. Their capital, Moyaone, was located nearby. Note: The park has an oral history (written and audio) from a Piscataway descendent and also cultural resources studies relating to the Piscataway nation.

· The view scape and proximity to the Potomac River were leading reasons that Edward Digges had Warburton Manor constructed. Digges was a close friend of George Washington and Pierre Charles L’Enfant, designer of the capital of the US.

· Fort Warburton, built on the location of the present Fort Washington, was one of the first forts built under the auspices of the US government. It was destroyed during a British raid during the War of 1812. Freedom seekers fled to the British from Maryland and Virginia to escape enslavement.

· The current historic Fort Washington was constructed between 1814 and 1824. It served as the only major coastal defense for the nation’s capital until the Civil War.

· During the Civil War the fort was garrisoned, and large artillery mounted to protect the capital as Virginia, part of the Confederacy, lay across the river. Union soldiers left diary accounts detailing the tedium of garrison life.

· Freedom-seekers fled to Fort Washington during the Civil War to escape enslavement.

· In 1886 the War Department authorized a new defense system consisting of rifled steel guns in concrete low-silhouette emplacements. Fort Washington contains a number of these emplacements from 1886-1896. Additional outbuildings were constructed to provide for a larger garrison and the historic fort became one structure among many as the property grew to resemble a base more than a single fort. Park has many photos of this era.

· During World War I troops mustered at Fort Washington before being sent to France.

· After WWI the 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry was stationed at Fort Washington and was renowned as the main ceremonial unit for Military District Washington.

· During World War II Fort Washington’s purpose changed from housing a ceremonial unit to active training as the Adjutant General’s School. The 67TH Detachment of the Women’s Army Corps (WAACS) trained here. The park has a large number of first person accounts from oral histories given by these women.

· Following the war, the Federal Government considered turning the area into a highway but turned it over to the US Department of Interior for preservation because of the view sheds and to preserve the water quality of the Potomac River.

· In the wake of September 11, 2001, Fort Washington was again called to serve. US military units established an early warning radar base around the fort’s lighthouse. The park has photos of this.