This Amusement Park Closed in 1968 and now is maintained by the Park Service

Glen Echo Amusement Park, Glen Echo Maryland

Date added: April 18, 2024 Categories:

A view of the entrance of Glen Echo Park, showing persons alighting from a Cabin John streetcar in front of it (1939)

Glen Echo Park is the site of the late nineteenth-century Chautauqua movement at Glen Echo, Maryland, and an example of an early twentieth-century amusement park of architectural and historical significance. It was a major commercial and recreational facility for area residents and visitors from its establishment in 1899 on the site of the short-lived Chautauqua until its closing in 1968. Although the rides and amusements are gone, major buildings and structures remain to convey the visual environment of the amusement park as it existed in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.

The Chautauqua movement, so called from the first assembly of its adherents on the shore of Lake Chautauqua, New York, in 1874, was an effort to democratize learning within an ecumenical Protestant religious framework by bringing the culture of the well-to-do to the masses. By 1891, the movement had expanded from its permanent home base to 52 more modest assemblies conducting 2-weeks summer programs of educational lectures, classes, and entertainment in tents. The idea caught hold in Washington, D.C. where several groups formed a Chautauqua Union to plan programs for the area.

Coinciding with this local flowering of the Chautauqua movement were the plans of Edwin Baltzley, Philadelphia real estate promoter, and his brother Edward of Washington for a residential and resort development to be known as "Glen Echo-on-the-Potomac" between Cabin John Creek and Sycamore Island, northwest of Washington. An elaborate rustic resort "cafe" of rough cedar logs, the "Potowmack," was opened to the public in July 1980 but succumbed to fire that November. A giant stone hotel evocative of a Rhineland Castle was promised in Glen Echo publicity but was never realized.

Seeing the Chautauqua idea as a potential enhancement of their development, the Baltzleys on March 24^th, 1891, deed 80 acres to the "National Chautauqua of Glen Echo." The National Chautauqua was incorporated by 42 prominent citizens including John Wesley Powell, George Peters, Arthur B. Cropley, and the Baltzleys themselves "to promote liberal and practical education, especially among the masses of the people; their several pursuits and professions in life, and to fit them for the duties which devolve upon them as members of society."

Construction began quickly on two principal structures, the Amphitheater and the Hall of Philosophy, and on the stone tower, archway, and adjoining buildings forming the gateway to the campus. The Amphitheater and Hall of Philosophy (both demolished) were designed in rustic style by Theophilus Parsons Chandler of Philadelphia, architect of the Baltzley house and the cafe. The tower, listed in a separate individual nomination, housed administrative offices and mounted bells from the McShane foundry of Baltimore. It was designed by Victor Mindelef, a local architect.

Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, became president of the Women's Executive Committee of the National Chautauqua of Glen Echo, formed to foster the "Advancement of Woman, Improving and Enlarging her Scope of Usefulness." Miss Barton herself acquired adjoining property at Glen Echo in 1891 and built what would later become her residence and American Red Cross headquarters. Listed separately as the Clara Barton House on the National Register, the Red Cross headquarters was also designed in the rustic style. Its original rough stone facade, removed in 1897, except for corner towers, matched the character of the Chautauqua buildings nearby.

The assembly opened in June 1891 with the buildings still unfinished, although the Amphitheater was sufficiently complete to accommodate the large dedication crowd. The array of Chautauqua programs was well attended by several hundred people until August. But this first successful season proved to be the last. In late August, Dr. Henry Spencer, head of the Chautauqua Business School, died of pneumonia. Rumor spread that he had contracted malaria, making people reluctant to visit the area. This dampened residential lot sales and cut the cash flow necessary to support expansion. With the area's image thus tainted, the National Chautauqua of Glen Echo was doomed (Except for the original assembly, which remains active on Lake Chautauqua to this day, the Chautauqua movement evolved to a popular traveling format).

Meanwhile, parks that presented the public mechanical rides involving the visitor in direct participation gained increased popularity around the turn of the century. Simple merry-go-rounds and forerunners of the Ferris wheel graced county fairs from the mid-nineteenth century. In 1884, the "switch-back," an antecedent to the modern roller coaster was built at Coney Island, New York. In 1893, at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the Ferris wheel developed by George W. Ferris, appeared as did the Midway. Coney Island led the way in mechanical amusements, two years after the Columbian Exposition, the first two Coney Island Parks, Steeplechase and Sea Lion were in operation. In 1903, Luna Park, the most fanciful of Coney Island Park architecture, opened to be copied all across the country. The St. Louis Fair of 1904 popularized the craze for mechanical rides, and amusement parks became a major recreational industry.

The local trolley companies greatly added to the amusement park development. Trolley parks were built usually on a loop track at the end of the trolley line to encourage use of the traction railways during non-work hours. At first, the parks consisted of picnic groves and beer gardens, with theatres for vaudeville acts and a dance hall. However, more amusement park owners found that active entertainment, rides, shooting galleries, midways, and penny arcades increased the popularity of their parks. Consequently, in the early part of the 20^th century, more rides were added to the parks while the vaudeville and theatrical acts eclipsed. Company picnics and organizational outings provided growing crowds for the new mechanical amusement parks, where patrons could escape their urban routine into a world of mechanically induced thrills and fantasy. The craze continued on through the 1920s and 1930s with the introduction of public swimming pools and bigger dance halls to accommodate the Big Band era. Rollercoasters became higher and more terrifying. Carousels became polychromed works of art. Rides like dodgems, skooters, and tilt-a-whirl joined the more traditional Ferris wheel. Enterprising amusement park owners tried to add a new ride each year to anticipate jaded public taste.

Surviving World War II, amusement parks continued through the 1950s after the baby boom furnished new parkgoers. But by the 1960s public taste was turning fickle. Theme parks, originated by Walt Disney's Disneyland in the early 1950s, captured the public taste as Americans began to patronize regional theme parks often many miles out of town forsaking the old local mechanical amusement parks. Still, many amusement parks survived, though several were closed by racial disturbances in the 1960s. With the advent of the nostalgia movement of the 1970s, movements came about to save the mechanical amusement parks still in existence.

Glen Echo spent most of its life as a mechanical amusement park owned by the Washington Railway and Electric Company and the Capital Transit Company, which ran trolley services to the site. In 1899, the National Chautauqua property was leased to the Glen Echo company, an amusement park venture. In 1911, the Washington Railway and Electric Company bought Glen Echo and the modern amusement park was built. Leonard B. Schloss was the manager of the park. He was a pioneer in the development of the mechanical rides park and under his direction, Glen Echo became very successful. By 1913, a dance hall had been built which was charging 5¢ per dance, and a rollercoaster was constructed. In 1921, the carousel was built by the firm of Gustav and William Dentzel of Philadelphia. In 1923, the bumper car pavilion was built to house the Dodgem bumper car. The structures housing the carousel and the bumper cars are significant for their late Queen Anne and Shingle Style influenced designs which recalls the original architectural styling of the first phase of the amusement park development.

In 1931, the Crystal Pool was built to accommodate 3,000 swimmers; it was one of the largest of the period with 1,500,000 gallons of circulating water. Adjacent to the pool is the Spanish Ballroom, opened in 1933, and which is significant for its Spanish Colonial Revival Style exterior and Art Deco influenced interior. Other Spanish Colonial Revival Style structures, such as the main entrance gates, were later replaced by buildings in more "up-to-date" designs.

Beginning in 1940, construction began on the current entrance canopy, administration building, two cafes, and the arcade building with its distinctive two towers. The large complex, which defines the southwest portion of the district, is significant for its Moderne/Art Deco architectural styling. This was also the last major phase of building construction for the amusement park.

During the 1950s, the park began to decline in use. In 1956, the amphitheater was deliberately burned down by park authorities to make way for a parking lot. In June 1960, pickets protested the parks's policy of segregation. As a result of public attention to Civil rights issues, Glen Echo was opened on March 31^st, 1961, to Blacks for the first time.

In 1971, the Federal government acquired the defunct amusement park in a land exchange to protect the Potomac Palisades from threatened adverse development on the property. The National Park Service acquired administrative responsibility and has sponsored a range of recreational and educational activities at the site, continuing in a modern fashion the original Chautauqua ideal which led to its initial development. Its public use continues to evolve, and the old amusement park facilities have lent themselves well to artists and sculpture studios, children's theatre, folk dancing, writing clinics, and a variety of cultural programs.

Site Description

The park includes 8 frame, masonry, stone, and stucco structures in a park setting. Numerous small amusement structures and several larger features such as the roller coaster have been removed.

A. Chautauqua Tower - Built in 1891-1892, is a circular structure of rough native stone, approximately 34-feet in diameter and three-story high, capped by an 11-sided roof of steep pitch with a flagpole rising from its peak.

B. Carrousel - Consists of a suspended stage and canopy divided into 18 bays or segments. It contains 52 carved wooden animals in 3 concentric rings around the stage and 2 decorated circus chariots with fixed wheels, each having two seats. The animals include 39 horses, 4 ostriches, 4 rabbits, and a single deer, tiger, giraffe, and lion, all bearing fanciful saddles with colorful saddle blankets and harnesses. The carrousel and its accompanying Wurlitzer Band Organ are housed in a 12-sided building with a segmented domed roof.

C. Bumper Car Pavilion - Dating from 1923, this is the oldest surviving amusement park structure at Glen Echo other than the carrousel and its house. This frame structure measures 55' by 95'. The roof forms a broad bell-shaped curve at the gable ends, which are decorated with open latticework, and a pediment centered on the front or long side upon which is a painting of a bumper car. The sides are open above low fencing. None of the contents remain. The structure is in fair condition. The steel plated floor is original. This was one of the first bumper car rides in a park.

D. Remnants of the Crystal Pool - Designed by Alexander, Becker, and Schoeppe of Philadelphia, who specialized in amusement park pool designs, the pool was erected on the site of the former Derby Racer in 1931. Measuring 150 ' by 250' overall, the structure contained three swim areas, a sand "beach", and lockers for the 3,000 swimmers it was designed to accommodate at a time. The concrete pool and especially the frame locker room along the northwest side became severely deteriorated and a safety hazard. In 1981, a management decision was made to demolish the pool. The National Park Service agreed to retain the art deco entrance pylon and part of the retaining wall of the pool, as well as the adjoining first aid building and restroom building. These remaining features constitute Registered elements of the former pool. Pools were typical of amusement park operations of that period. The entrance pylon, the first aid building, remnants of the pool wall and the buried filled-in pool remains.

E. Spanish Ballroom - This large structure, designed by Edward Schoeppe of Philadelphia, was constructed in 1933. The stuccoed walls, entry tower, projecting wood viga ends, and roof tiles simulate Spanish architecture. The building measures 90' by 145' and contains a 7,500 square foot dance floor designed to accommodate 1800 dancers. A highly decorated interior combines art deco and Spanish motifs. The art deco decoration of the stage is noteworthy. The ballroom hosted big-name bands of the 1930's and World War II era. An original terrazzo floor leads through an arcade into the ballroom. Some evidence indicates that an earlier ballroom may have been remodeled to produce the existing structure. Sometime during the history of the structure, the facade was remodeled into a "Jungleland" amusement feature. In recent years the badly deteriorated "Jungleland" remains were removed and the facade was partially restored to its 1933 ballroom appearance.

F. Administration Building (Arcade) - These 2 structures, built in 1940, are joined and present a continuous facade along their west sides. The combined buildings measure approximately 340' by 70'. The surfaces are predominantly stuccoed. Two lighted towers bearing stylized vertical stripes flank a theater entrance in the middle of the arcade; shorter towers are on either side. Three projecting concentric medallions occupy the panel over the former shooting gallery to the left (north) of the theater. A low banded cornice runs along the facade, and a flat roof with banded edges on columns between the northeast end of the administration building and the Chautauqua Tower served as the covered entryway to the amusement park. The overall stylistic influence is art moderne. The rear of the arcade is exposed brick. Decorating the one-storied front extension of the administration building are stylized lamps on the roof deck and a modern rendering of POPCORN to advertise what was sold below. Part of the mechanism, backdrop, and targets of the shooting gallery are extant.

G. Cuddle Up Pavilion - Built in 1947, this open structure consists of a steel-framed roof on stuccoed piers. The roof, measuring 45' by 75', is a flat ellipse with a broad band edge, reflecting the art moderne influence of the arcade and park entrance. The amusement ride, once sheltered here, is gone.

H. Amusement Park Maintenance Shop (yellow barn) - This two-story frame building abuts the Chautauqua Tower and provides interior access to the Tower. The two-story wooden section adjacent to the Tower has balconies, one facing the inside, and one facing the outside of the park. Attached to the two-story section is a one-story-long extension. A stone masonry wall faces the northeast side of the building. This stone wall is all that remains of a stone building constructed in 1891 adjacent to the Chautauqua Tower, to house a series of shops catering to the Glen Echo Chautauqua participants. During the period of 1897-1910, the stone arcade was converted to a small bowling alley for the amusement park. In 1914, the stone arcade burned, except for the remaining back wall and a wooden barn-like structure was built in its place. The stone wall was incorporated into this wooden structure. From 1914-1928, the yellow barn and the second floor of the stone tower served as the residence of the Glen Echo park manager. From 1914-1968 part of the yellow barn served as maintenance shop for the amusement park. During National Park Service ownership to 1982, the barn has served as a woodworking shop and pottery Shop. Except for the stone wall, the entire structure is frame. The lower floor consists of a large open room, hallway to the Chautauqua Tower, and a small storage room. Four enclosed rooms and two covered balconies are on the second floor.

I. Picnic Grove - Although not a structure, the picnic grove in the area between the carrousel, ballroom, and the bumper car pavilion is an element of the historic environment evident in plans and aerial photographs of the 1930s. Company picnics were an important part of the amusement park business.

There are also several service structures remaining:

A. Comfort Station - This two story brick structure with gable roof is utilitarian in design and use. It houses public restrooms on the upper floor and maintenance activities on the first floor.

B. Yurts - These conical frame structures were placed at Glen Echo in the mid-1970s to house park craft activities.

C. Ice House - This circa 1920s structure is currently used as a boiler room.

D. Horse Barn - This circa 1920s structure formerly housed park electrical operations. The adjacent office trailer is temporary.

E. Incinerator Building - This one-story stone structure formerly was used for burning trash. The stone walls remain from a two-story caretaker's residence of the Chautauqua era.

F. Maintenance Shed - This open-sided steel structure dates from the 1950s and formerly housed "kiddie rides".

G. Hall of Mirrors - This circa 1950s concrete block structure is of one-story, flat-roofed design and once housed park amusements. It is currently used for park dance activities.