Tenleytown Heritage Trail Historical Markers

By Tom Fuchs, August 31, 2013

A Spirit of Community Marker

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1 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, American University Park — 12 — A Spirit of Community — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

Episcopalians first gathered here to worship in 1874, when St. Alban's Church, located on Wisconsin Avenue and Massachusetts, started a mission for the area. In good weather, services took place under a majestic oak tree on land donated by . . . — — Map (db m130927) HM

2 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, American University Park — 17 — American University — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

Beyond Ward Circle to your left is the campus of American University, chartered by Congress in 1893. Methodist Bishop John Fletcher Hurst guided the university’s development as a center for training future public servants. With its schools in . . . — — Map (db m130932) HM

3 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, American University Park — 9 — And the Church Goes on — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

Eldbrooke United Methodist Church's roots reach to about 1835, when Methodists gathered at the Loughborough Road home of Philip L. Brooke. Soon they built the simple, wooden Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal Church on land purchased from the . . . — — Map (db m184983) HM

4 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, American University Park — 1 — Beer, Popcorn, and Penny Candy — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

Suburban shopping arrived in Tenleytown when Sears, Roebuck & Co. erected a Moderne style store here in 1941. The sleek façade demonstrated the latest in department store design. Sears was the second Tenleytown business — after Giant . . . — — Map (db m130918) HM

5 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, American University Park — 8 — Birth of Tennallytown — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

Even before the nation's capital was sketched out in 1791, this spot, where River Road met the Georgetown-Frederick Road, attracted activity. John Tennally opened a tavern and inn across River Road from this sign. By the early 1800s, a hamlet . . . — — Map (db m184984) HM

6 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, American University Park — 15 — For the Children — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

From 1927 until the late 1950s, the landscaped grounds across the street were the Hillcrest Children’s Center. It was founded downtown in 1814 as the Washington City Orphan Asylum by Marcia Burnes Van Ness and President Madison’s wife Dolley. . . . — — Map (db m130930) HM

7 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, American University Park — 11 — Harry Country — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

By 1900, 12 large families — often intermarried — came to dominate the village that was Tennallytown: the Burrows, Chappell, Harry, Hurdle, Paxton, Perna, Poore, Queen, Riley, Robey, Shoemaker, and Walther clans. This is Harry country, . . . — — Map (db m184982) HM

8 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, American University Park — 7 — In Touch with the World — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

“Tenley Tower,” behind you, dates from the mid-1940s. Western Union Telegraph Co. built it as part of an experimental system using microwaves to transmit telegrams in the mid-Atlantic region. This new technology helped erase telegraph wires . . . — — Map (db m130925) HM

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9 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, American University Park — 18 — Live on Our Stage! — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

When NBC radio and television and its local affiliate, WRC, moved to these new headquarters in 1958, the average TV screen measured 12 inches. The facility opened with six studios—three TV and three radio. Soon history happened here. . . . — — Map (db m47866) HM

10 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, American University Park — 14 — On the Circle — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

In the 1930s city engineers created Tenley Circle where commuters heading cross-town or downtown changed streetcars. Across the street and to the left of Tenley Circle, a surviving strip of historic Grant Road meets Wisconsin Avenue. In the . . . — — Map (db m130929) HM

11 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, American University Park — 10 — Set in Stone — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

You are standing on the west side of Mt. Airy, a subdivision spanning Wisconsin Avenue laid out in the late 1890s. Mt. Airy evolved into a dense, working-class neighborhood, where policemen and dairymen lived in modest houses. Among them . . . — — Map (db m130926) HM

12 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, American University Park — 13 — To the Rescue — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

The brick building across the street opened in 1928 as the Convent of Bon Secours (literally, “good help”). The convent’s sisters had arrived in Baltimore from France in 1881. In Baltimore they quietly nursed both wealthy and needy . . . — — Map (db m130928) HM

13 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, American University Park — 16 — Winning the War — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

The U.S. Navy arrived across the street at 3801 Nebraska Avenue during World War II, taking the Colonial style red-brick campus of Mount Vernon Seminary for secret “essential wartime activities.” Soon more than 5,000 workers occupied the . . . — — Map (db m130931) HM

14 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, North Cleveland Park — 19 — Community Building Blocks — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

Security and style came to Tenleytown in 1900, when Engine House No. 20 opened across from Wisconsin Avenue. No longer would fire fighters have to come all the way from Georgetown to extinguish blazes in Tenleytown's wood-frame houses. Opened . . . — — Map (db m147297) HM

15 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, Tenleytown — 2 — A Country Road — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

Step back into the 19th century with a walk down Grant Road, ahead and to your left. This winding byway recalls Tenleytown’s farming past. In fact Grant Road’s undisturbed quality earned it National Historic District and DC Historic District . . . — — Map (db m130920) HM

16 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, Tenleytown — 5 — Fort Reno — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

To your right is "Point Reno," the highest point in Washington — 409 feet above sea level, to be exact. This unsurpassed vantage brought the Civil War (1861-1865) to Tenleytown. After the Union defeat at Bull Run in July 1861, . . . — — Map (db m130923) HM

17 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, Tenleytown — 6 — Reno City — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

Before the Civil War (1861-65), the land behind you was part of the 72-acre farm of Giles Dyer. As a Southerner, Dyer depended on enslaved people to work his fields. Because of its elevation, Dyers land was taken by the Union Army in 1861 . . . — — Map (db m130924) HM

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18 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, Wakefield — 3 — Suburban Style — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

Until 1890 Tenleytown was a rural crossroads. Then the electric streetcar arrived, followed by the Permanent Highway Plan. Real estate men promoted new houses at the top of the town: city conveniences, country charm, and great views, with a . . . — — Map (db m130921) HM

19 ► District of Columbia, Washington, Northwest Washington, Wakefield — 4 — Three R's — Top of the Town — Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

The red-brick School ahead and to your left is Alice Deal Junior High, honoring the mathematics teacher and union leader who launched Washington’s first junior high school in 1919 at Seventh and O Streets, NW. Architect Albert Harris’s . . . — — Map (db m130922) HM