Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
1550 Anacostia Avenue, NE,
Washington, DC 20019
Operating Hours & Seasons
When entered from Anacostia Avenue, the park is open 7:00 am to 4:00 pm every day except Thanksgiving, December 25 and January 1.
Explore the Park
Waterlilies and lotuses sprout from the ponds of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in such multitude that it's hard to believe you're still within the District's borders. During the steamy summer months, the view from the dikes separating each pond resembles a lush, tropical land unknown in these parts.
Leave your urban self at the gates of this 12-acre national park and become immersed in the song and flight of some 40 bird species, including osprey, bald eagles and wrens. Beyond the crazy quilt of waterlilies and grass, you can walk along the River Trail, which follows the northern edge of the marsh to the Anacostia River, less than a mile away. Herons wade and red-wing blackbirds flit through the cattails emerging from the water. A brochure leads visitors on a self-guided trail walk explaining wildlife and how the native Nacotchatank tribe once used the land.
While the trail makes for a refreshing outing any time of the year, late spring to early fall is the time to enjoy the flowers. The hardy lilies, plants with strong roots, stay in the ponds year-round, but bloom from early May until mid-September. The tropical lilies, whose roots are more delicate, only bloom from mid-June through early October, but peak in July and August.
– Margaret Hutton, Washington Post City Guide
History
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens is the only national part devoted to water loving plants. Today, you join the cycle of discovery and rediscovery of this land that began when people started living here over 4,000 years ago. These wetlands sustained their civilization with clean water, abundant food, medicine, and shelter. From the cattail alone, people derived food, medicine, and the raw materials for household goods and summer shelter. They began the cycle of human discovery, loss, and rediscovery.
Remnants of this original wetland edge two sides of the ponds near the boardwalk. The value of local wetlands was lost to the English, accustomed to English bogs. They cleared the high land of protective forests to build farms in the1600s. Later, the Industrial Revolution increased deforestation for fuel, fences, and homes. Unprotected by forest, soil washed into the Anacostia River and deep channels that once harbored sturgeon, filling them with silt instead.
After the Civil War, Mr. Walter Shaw cultivated the marshes with water lilies and other plant life. This floral paradise began as Shaw's hobby. He bought 37 acres along the river in 1880, where he cultivated a few native species of water lilies from his home state of Maine. In 1912, he took his passion commercial, with the W.B. Shaw Lily Ponds. He developed more varieties and sold plants and blooms. Continuing his work, his daughter Mrs. Helen Fowler created a prosperous commercial nursery and a local visitors' attraction.
Value is in the eye of the beholder. Walter Shaw found the wetlands were a good place to build his water garden. It would be many decades before we rediscovered the social value of wetlands. Before then, the Shaw and Fowler families would work to preserve their gardens and a happy accident would save a time portal to those past residents. In 1938 when the gardens faced destructive dredging that would have irrevocably damaged the fresh water hydrology that sustained the commercial gardens, the National Park Service stepped in and bought the land. Today we have Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.
The Park's Assets
Coming soon....
- The Gardens
- The Marsh
- The River
- The Quiet
- The Cultural Landscapes of Kenilworth
Challenges Facing the Park
Coming soon....
Kenilworth -- A Piece of Authentic Chesapeake Bay Country
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens is a Chesapeake Bay Gateway. Get to know Chesapeake Bay Country through Chesapeake Trips and Tips.
Connections
What's your passion? Gardens, birds, the sacred lotus, canoeing...find it here.
Eastland Gardens Civic Association
Urban Gardeners - DC Metro Area
Modern Buddhism of America, Inc., mobuddhism@aol.com
Our Neighboring Community
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens has three adjoining neighborhoods – Parkside, historic Douglas Street, and Kenilworth-Parkside Homes. Get to know our neighborhood through the eyes of a member: "I LOVE KENILWORTH: its woods, streets, and alleys; its highway and its people; its ponds and churches and homes." Read more...
