![]() Fairchild planted these trees on a hillside on his own property in Chevy Chase, Maryland, testing their hardiness in the Washington area. Department of Agriculture, imported 75 flowering cherry trees and 25 single-flowered weeping types from the Yokohama Nursery Company in Japan. David Fairchild, a botanist who worked for the U.S. Her idea was rejected over the next 24 years, Scidmore approached every new superintendent, but the idea was never authorized. Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, upon returning to Washington, D.C., from a visit to Japan, initiated the idea of cherry trees in Washington, D.C., She approached the Superintendent of Public Building and Grounds, then Colonel Spencer Cosby, about the idea in 1885. ![]() The famous sakura Japanese cherry trees of Washington, D.C., line the Tidal Basin and are the main attraction at the National Cherry Blossom Festival in early spring, when the cherry blossoms bloom. Cherry trees West Potomac Park seen from across the Tidal Basin with cherry trees in bloom The Jefferson Memorial in West Potomac Park Congress first appropriated money for the beautification of the reclaimed land in 1902, which led to the planting of sod, bushes, and trees grading and paving of sidewalks, bridle paths, and driveways and the installation of water, drainage, and sewage pipes. This " reclaimed land" - which included West Potomac Park, East Potomac Park, the Tidal Basin - was largely complete by 1890, and designated Potomac Park by Congress in 1897. In the process, the nearby Babcock Lakes, a series of small ponds, were filled in. After terrible flooding inundated much of downtown Washington, D.C., in 1881, Congress ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge a deep channel in the Potomac and use the material to fill in the Potomac (creating the current banks of the river) and raise much of the land near the White House and along Pennsylvania Avenue NW by nearly 6 feet (1.8 m). Creation of the park Īlmost none of the National Mall west of the Washington Monument grounds and below Constitution Avenue NW existed prior to 1882. West Potomac Park is administered by National Mall and Memorial Parks, an administrative unit of the National Park Service's National Capital Parks. The park includes the surrounding land on the shore of the Tidal Basin, an artificial inlet of the Potomac River which was created in the 19th century, an inlet that links the Potomac with the northern end of the Washington Channel. The park is the site of many national landmarks, including the Korean War Veterans Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, George Mason Memorial, and the Martin Luther King Jr. It includes the parkland that extends south of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, from the Lincoln Memorial to the grounds of the Washington Monument. national park in Washington, D.C., adjacent to the National Mall. If you don’t want to walk or ride a bike, your best bet is a taxi.Bounded by Constitution Ave., 17th St., Independence Ave., Washington Channel, Potomac River, and Rock Creek Park, N.W.ģ8★3′9.6″N 77☂′49.2″W / 38.886000°N 77.047000°W / 38.886000 -77.047000Įast and West Potomac Parks Historic District ( ID73000217 ) ![]() There is no convenient Metro stop near here. ![]() If you’re walking, cross Independence Avenue where it intersects with West Basin Drive and follow the path to the Tidal Basin. To get to the Tidal Basin by car ( not recommended in cherry-blossom season-actually, let me be clear: impossible in cherry-blossom season), you want to get on Independence Avenue and follow the signs posted near the Lincoln Memorial that show you where to turn to find parking. The National Park Service devotes a home page to the subject, and the National Cherry Blossom Festival officially has another: The trees usually begin blooming sometime between March 20 and April 17 April 4 is the average date at which the blooms reach their peak, defined as the point at which 70% of the Tidal Basin–sited cherry trees have blossomed. The sight of the delicate cherry blossoms is so special that the whole city joins in cherry-blossom-related hoopla, throwing the National Cherry Blossom Festival (Mar 20–Apr 14, 2019). ![]() Today more than 3,750 cherry trees grow along the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park, East Potomac Park, the Washington Monument grounds, and other pockets of the city. capital the gift of the original 3,000 trees in 1912. The parkland is most famous for its display of cherry trees, which bloom for a mere 2 weeks, tops, every spring, as they have since the city of Tokyo first gave the U.S. The National Mall and Memorial Parks’ individual spaces known as West and East Potomac parks are 720 riverside acres divided by the Tidal Basin. ![]()
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