Glen Echo Park

Glen Echo Park Review

The site of Washington's oldest amusement park (1911-68) is preserved here, as is a stone tower from the village of Glen Echo, founded in 1891 by Edwin and Edward Baltzley, brothers who made their fortune from the invention of the eggbeater. The brothers were enthusiastic supporters of the Chautauqua movement, a group begun in 1874 in New York as a way to promote liberal education among the working and middle classes. The brothers sold land and houses to further their dream, but the Glen Echo Chautauqua lasted only one season. The National Park Service administers this 10-acre property and offers year-round dances Friday through Sunday in the 1933 Spanish Ballroom, classes in the arts, two children's theaters, two art galleries with ongoing exhibits, artist demonstrations, and the Living Classrooms Museum with environmental education workshops. There's a great playground for kids, and young and old alike can ride on a 1921 Dentzel carousel May through September. The Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture has a monthly calendar on its Web site (www.glenechopark.org) that lists everything from art classes and performances to holiday workshops and artist showings.