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National Park Service Officials Charting Future Of Theodore Roosevelt Island

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Published Date

August 1, 2017

National Park Service officials are taking a look at how best to craft a long-term stewardship and preservation plan for Theodore Roosevelt Island in the Potomac River.

The project will result in recommendations for preserving historically significant features within the site and improving or modernizing certain visitor amenities, access areas, and conditions.

Theodore Roosevelt Island is a memorial to the 26th president of the United States, spanning the jurisdictions of Washington, D.C., and Rosslyn, Virginia. The park is administered by the George Washington Memorial Parkway. On it you'll find a forest designed to mimic the natural forest that once covered the island, complete with a few miles of hiking trails. During the summer, rangers lead kayaking groups in the Potomac River and around the island.

As part of the planning work, staff will identify and document landscape characteristics, patterns, and features that convey historical significance.

Originally known as Mason's Island, the island was owned by the Mason family, which established a ferry from the island to Georgetown in 1748. John Mason settled on the island in the late 1700s. He established a plantation, constructed a mansion, and laid out fields for farming.

During the Civil War, Union troops were stationed on the island. It was also utilized as a camp for the first regiment of black soldiers formally mustered into federal service, the 1st U.S. Colored Troops and, later, a fugitive slave camp. After falling into disuse, the Roosevelt Memorial Association (now Theodore Roosevelt Association) purchased the island in 1931. They donated the land to the federal government the following year for the specific use of creating a memorial to President Theodore Roosevelt.

The Olmsted Brothers, a renowned landscape architecture firm, was engaged to design the memorial island. Many of the trails and vegetation on the island today date from this period (1932-1937). The Memorial Plaza was designed by landscape architect Eric Gugler and sculptor Paul Manship. Its construction began in 1961 and was dedicated in 1967. The pedestrian bridge from the Virginia mainland to the island was completed in 1979.

You can learn more about the proposal and leave your comments at this page.

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