This DC park is managed by Capital Parks East, which includes the long riverside park and 12 mile bike trail along the Anacostia. In summer, this is likely the prettiest DC park, when the water lilies are in bloom. Once a commercial enterprise, the community now volunteers to maintain this beautiful “oasis in the city”, and I saw a dozen folks knee deep in the mud digging around among the roots. Outside of the water lily ponds, there are wetlands accessible by boardwalk. I saw a Great Blue Heron, sandpipers and various warblers, and the water is also full of life.

That this park exists is a bit miraculous. The area was a failed tobacco plantation, a failed port, a failed reclamation project, a failed industrial zone, a failed housing development, a failed country club, a dump, and a Hooverville of WWI veterans who were removed by the Army after asking for their promised bonus, which failed.

The water lily business was the most successful, with species from all over the world. Civil War veteran WB Shaw and his daughter Helen Fowler ran it in the ‘20s and ‘30s. The wetlands are now seen as critical habitats that keep the river healthy. Freshwater mussels now clean what was once a terribly polluted river. African American community leaders like Rhuedine Davis and Walter McDowney recreated the gardens and taught kids to love nature’s beauty. We owe them all a great debt.