The entrance of Glen Echo Park exhibiting features of Art Deco design such as the streamlined pillars holding up the neon sign. Additionally, the trolley rails can be seen in the concrete near the edge of the canopy.
Opulent Dentzel Carousel found in Echo Park Carousel including brightly painted horses, lights, and mirrors.
Photo by: Geoff Livingston/Flickr | CC BY-SA 2.0
Located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River, just northeast of Washington, D.C., Glen Echo Park is a reminder of summer nights filled with laughter, bright lights and the thrills that only a fast roller coaster can provide. This amusement park had humble beginning as a Chautauqua assembly. At the turn of the 20th century, people would fill the park’s amphitheater for live music, lectures and, on one occasion, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Outside of the usual Chautauqua offerings, guests could enjoy a handful of rides and attractions. A trip to the park was like visiting a small-town fair.
By 1911, a newly constructed trolley line connected the Glen Echo, Maryland, amusement park directly to Washington, D.C. The company that built and operated the trolly—Washington Railway and Electric Company—recognized the potential to seriously upgrade Glen Echo Park in hopes of increasing travel along the new line. To generate excitement, the company added mechanical rides like roller coasters and even the first-ever bumper car attraction. The newly minted “Glen Echo Amusement Park” was advertised as an escape from humdrum urban living, to encourage Washingtonians to venture out to Maryland for a day trip or weekend of fun. As the United States progressed through the economic depression of the 1930s and into World War II, Glen Echo Park provided a fantastical alternative to the existential fear and uncertainty of the time. In order to immerse park-goers in a world of thrills and joy, the park utilized sleek and futuristic Art Deco design and architecture. [1]
The entrance of Glen Echo Park exhibiting features of Art Deco design such as the streamlined pillars holding up the neon sign. Additionally, the trolley rails can be seen in the concrete near the edge of the canopy.
Art Deco, originating from the term arts décoratifs, is a decorative style that originated in Paris in 1925; it is characterized by linear symmetry, clean lines and geometric shapes inspired by Aztec and Egyptian references. The style swept across Europe and the United States in the 1930s and 1940s, resulting in a boom of Art Deco architecture, home décor and fashion that countered the romantic, ornate style of Art Nouveau. Examples of Art Deco style can be found in some of the most iconic buildings in the United States, including the Empire State Building in New York City and Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. As for Glen Echo Park, the Art Deco style could be seen as soon as visitors hopped off the trolley and walked through the park’s front gate—two sleek pylons supported a curved canopy and a large neon sign reading “Glen Echo Park.” Vertical lines, sleek curves and neon lighting helped create a futuristic and modern fantasy for visitors. The newer and more modern attractions built during the 1930s and 1940s, like Crystal Pool, were designed specifically in Art Deco style, but for the Bumper Car Pavillion and some of the older attractions, the original structures were covered with Art Deco façades to match the style of the evolving park. [2]
Following its construction in 1931, Crystal Pool drew thousands of eager visitors to the park, especially Washingtonians looking for a relaxing day of sunbathing and outdoor recreation. The pool’s swimming area, which could accommodate 3,000 swimmers, had a sand beach, a giant slide, diving boards, dressing rooms, a snack bar and an electric water fountain. During the day, guests marveled at the cleanliness of the clear and frequently filtered pool water, and at night they enjoyed the fountain’s rainbow lights and the underwater lights inside the pool. [3] Crystal Pool was one of the most popular destinations within the park. Today, visitors can still appreciate its Art Deco style, as the National Park Service is working to restore portions of the pool. [4]
Nighttime photo of Crystal Pool’s main swimming area and grandstand lit by large overhead and underwater lighting, showing off the sand beach, slide and electric water fountain.
Prior to the incorporation of the Art Deco aesthetic in the 1930s, Glen Echo Park acquired a wooden carousel built by its Germantown, Maryland, neighbors, the Dentzel Carousel Company. The now century-old carousel was installed in the park in 1921 and, though it soon contrasted with the park’s modern aesthetic, it became an iconic attraction. The entire ride is made from hand-carved wood, including over 50 seats shaped like horses, rabbits, ostriches, giraffes, deer, lions and tigers. The music that accompanies the spinning menagerie of animals comes from a rare Wurlitzer band organ; only 12 of its kind are known to exist. The Dentzel carousel is just as central to the legacy of Glen Echo Park as the modern attractions built later in its history—so much so that when activists decided to protest racial segregation in the park in 1960, they staged their sit-in on the carousel. Their efforts resulted in the integration of the park beginning in the 1961 season.
The amusement park has been closed since 1968, but with efforts by the National Park Service and the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture, the architecture and carousel are slowly being restored. Now the site hosts artists in residency and cultural programming throughout the year. [5]
A team of surveyors led by Major Andrew Ellicott erected this marker in 1792 to show the northwest boundary line of the District of Columbia. It is...
Between 1864 and 1928, this schoolhouse educated the children of Washington, D.C.’s Palisades neighborhood (though this structure dates from 1874, as...
In 2011, the National Library of Medicine (part of the National Institutes of Health, or NIH) opened a new exhibit called “ Native Voices " to share...
The Great American Rail-Trail promises an all-new American experience. Through 12 states and the District of Columbia, the trail will directly serve nearly 50 million people within 50 miles of the route. Across the nation—and the world—only the limits of imagination will limit its use.
Learn More
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails conservancy
(a non-profit) and we need your support!
