Piscataway Park - Accokeek MD - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

National Register of Historic Places Inventory---Nomination Form

Piscataway Park
Inventory No.: PG:83-12, CH-668
Date Listed: 10/15/1966
Location: Bryan Point Road, Accokeek, Charles County, Prince Georges County
Category: Site
Period/Date of Construction: 1761-1799; 1961

Significance: Piscataway Park is principally significant for its role in maintaining the historic vista across the Potomac River from Mount Vernon. This was a pilot project in the use of easements to protect parklands from obtrusive urban expansion. The project began in 1952 to preserve the river view as in was during George Washington's day. As the only unit of the National Park System established specifically to protect the environment of a privately owned historic property, it is secondarily important as a new departure in the recent history of Federal conservation activity. The park itself is not significant for particular on-site landmarks or features; its value derives from its general scenic character as viewed from across the Potomac. "No estate in United America is more pleasantly situated than this," wrote George Washington of Mount Vernon in 1793. Noted visitors to the mansion echoed Washington's admiration. "Toward the east nature has lavished magnificence," Benjamin Latrobe wrote of the prospect from the famous portico in 1796, and he recorded in ink and watercolor the scene of the Potomac and the opposite shore. Julian Niemcewicz described the view even more enthusiastically in 1798: "It is from there [the portico] that one looks out on perhaps the most beautiful view in the world. . . . It is there that in the afternoon and evening the Gl., his family and the [guests] go sit and enjoy the fine weather and the beautiful view. The opposite bank, the course of the river, the dense woods all combined to enhance this sweet illusion. What a remembrance!" Although the Piscataway area was occupied in Washington's time, the predominant impression from Mount Vernon, as recorded in Latrobe's sketch, was of a natural scene. Except for Marshall Hall, no structures of the period have survived. By the middle of the 20th century, proposals by private developers to build high-rise offices and apartments and by public authorities to construct a giant sewage treatment facility on the property threatened the view from Mount Vernon. In 1961 Congress authorized the National Park Service to acquire lands and scenic easements to preclude such esthetically intrusive developments. As a result, Piscataway Park now preserves the approximate character of the landscape as seen from Washington's estate, thereby safeguarding a vital and historic aspect of the environment of one of America's greatest shrines.

Street address: 3400 Bryan Point Road Accokeek Road, MD United States 20607 County / Borough / Parish: Prince George's County Year listed: 1966 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Conservation Periods of significance: 1750-1799 Historic function: Underwater Current function: Park Privately owned?: no Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   08/24/2022 Don.Morfe visited it