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57-605: East Potomac Park is accessible primarily by road via Ohio Drive SW. The DC Circulator 's National Mall Route, which began service in June 2015, provides the best public transportation option for reaching East Potomac Park. The closest Circulator stop is at East Basin Drive SW south of the Jefferson Memorial, which is within easy walking distance of Ohio Drive SW and the north end of the park. Metrobus does not serve

114-523: A bath house was provided for pool users, so that the fieldhouses could remain dedicated to golf course users. A major flood damaged much of the pool construction work in July 1936, and the pool finally opened on June 4, 1937. At some point in the 1950s, 1960s, or 1970s, the eastern fieldhouse was closed to the public and turned over to the U.S Park Police for use as their District 1 Station. The pool and bath house remained largely as constructed until 1976, when

171-531: A career in business. McMillan's first position was as a clerk for Buhl, Ducharme & Co., a wholesale hardware firm. At the age of 20, he left to become the purchasing agent for the Detroit & Milwaukee Railway . In 1863, he helped, along with John Stoughton Newberry , to organize the Michigan Car Company for the manufacture of freight cars. This business grew very rapidly, and in ten years it

228-452: A predictable fixed route and schedule, and run between the city's main attractions and some of the more popular neighborhoods for visitors. The service began in 2005, and passengers increased as the routes grew from two to five. Ridership peaked in 2011, and has decreased since then. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 1,936,800. The fare per ride is $ 1.00. The subsidy per rider is unusually high; in 2016, it averaged $ 3.32. In July 2024,

285-1048: A second from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center to the Southwest Waterfront . Additional routes were later added to serve the National Mall (2006), the 14th Street Corridor (2009), the Washington Navy Yard (2009), Rosslyn to Dupont Circle (2010), and the Skyland Town Center development in Southeast Washington (2011). The two lines that served the National Mall and the Southwest Waterfront were discontinued in 2011 due to low ridership and redundant service. The National Mall route

342-653: A severe flood every 10 to 25 years. Additionally, planners noted that the USPP District 1 headquarters was not configured to meet heightened security needs in a post- 9/11 world. NPS and USPP officials said they anticipated upgrading the HVAC and mechanical systems of the NCR headquarters, making the structure Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, and renovating the interior to create an open workspace from closed offices, which would allow far more efficient use of space and

399-578: A tool shed and public toilet and to serve as a shelter for police patrolling the park. But Congress did not approve this plan. Instead, a lodge originally built in Franklin Square in downtown Washington, D.C., about 1867 was moved to the north end of East Potomac Park, near the Washington Channel shoreline, between 1913 and June 1915. The National Park Service used the structure for various purposes until 1965, when Congress established

456-468: Is the great-great-grandfather of Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps , the mother of Princess Delphine of Belgium ( Delphine Michèle Anne Marie Ghislaine de Saxe-Cobourg ; born February 22, 1968), known previously as Jonkvrouw Delphine Boël, is a Belgian artist and member of the Belgian royal family . She is the daughter of King Albert II of Belgium with Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps , and

513-555: The District Department of Transportation announced that the service would be drawn down throughout the remainder of the year, and eventually discontinued on December 31. Reductions including the discontinuation of most late-night services, elimination of the Rosslyn – Dupont Circle route, and increased headways, are planned to begin on October 1. The announcement cited decreasing ridership and transportation budget cuts as

570-726: The Key Bridge to Rosslyn . This route replaced the former Georgetown Metro Connection "blue bus." This line connects Eastern Market and L'Enfant Plaza through Navy Yard & the DC Wharf District. This line operates from the Congress Heights and Union Station east of the Anacostia River via Barracks Row on Capitol Hill . This route replaced the discontinued Metrobus 94 line. This 15-stop loop line operates from Union Station to most of

627-729: The McMillan Sand Filtration Site in DC also bear his name. McMillan died in Manchester, Massachusetts , and is interred in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit. He was survived by his wife Mary and their six children: William Charles, Grace Fisher, James Howard, Amy (wife of Sir John Lane Harrington, British ambassador to Ethiopia), Philip Hamilton and Francis Wetmore. Through his son James Howard McMillan, James

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684-683: The National Mall and Memorial Parks (known as NAMA, for Na tional Ma ll) administrative unit of the National Park Service 's National Capital Parks . NAMA has used the lodge for its headquarters ever since. Bridle paths for horseback riding were also constructed in the park in 1913, and significantly expanded in summer 1915 and spring 1916. The first three of the park's many baseball diamonds were established in early 1915, and extensive cinder -lined walking paths constructed in summer 1915 and spring 1916. The Corps proceeded to clear grade, plow, and seed 88 acres (360,000 m) of land in

741-538: The 277-acre (1,120,000 m) the area around the Tidal Basin ), and section 3 (became the 327-acre (1,320,000 m) East Potomac Park). Congress formally designated these areas "Potomac Park" on March 3, 1897. To ensure that the island was not eroded by the river, poplars and willows were planted along edge of the island to stabilize the shoreline. Over the next two decades, most of East Potomac Park lay untouched, and dense thickets of trees and brush grew up on

798-811: The Commission, the District of Columbia Department of Transportation , the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , and the Downtown D.C. business improvement district met to plan what would become the Circulator. After selecting First Transit as the system operator, the DC Circulator started service in July 2005 with two routes: one along K Street from Union Station to Georgetown , and

855-695: The District officials said the ridership on the Circulator was too low to continue it. This line operated from the Potomac Avenue Metro station and Skyland Town Center east of the Anacostia River via Barracks Row on Capitol Hill . It was replaced by the Congress Heights – Union Station route on June 24, 2018 replacing Metrobus Route 94. This line connected Union Station and Navy Yard through Capitol Hill , with extended service on Washington Nationals game days. This route

912-696: The Long Bridge into Virginia . This was completed in June 1908. More dredge material was deposited on the island in 1909, 1911, and 1912. In 1900, the United States Senate established the Senate Park Commission to reconcile competing visions for the development of Washington, D.C., and the parks within it. Better known as the McMillan Commission , because of its influential chairman, Senator James McMillan ,

969-669: The National Park Service proposed a major restructuring of all federal government operations in the Mission 66 buildings. The consolidation and renovations were needed because the NAMA headquarters and the USPP District 1 headquarters were both in a medium-risk floodplain expected to have a severe flood once in every 100 years. A portion of the USSP District 1 access road and grounds were in a floodplain expected to have

1026-469: The National Park Service. In 1969, a one-story addition containing a cafeteria and training center was added to the north end of the NCR headquarters structure. In 2014, the 1913 lodge and the two fieldhouses were nominated for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places . The latter buildings were hailed as being excellent examples of the "Mission 66" style of architecture. In 2015,

1083-683: The Washington, D.C. Department of Transportation announced that the system's services would be reduced beginning in October 2024, and phased out entirely by the end of the year. The concept of a separate downtown bus was included in a 1997 report by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC). The report called for "a simple, inexpensive, and easily navigable surface transit system that complements Metrobus and Metrorail ." The next year, representatives of

1140-655: The architectural firm of Beyer Blinder Belle . Beginning in 1971, the United States lightship Chesapeake was anchored off East Potomac Park in the Washington Channel. The ship drew 25,000 visitors annually until she was moved to Baltimore Harbor and loaned to the Baltimore Maritime Museum in 1982. The Tidal Basin Outlet Channel Bridge, which now carried the 14th Street Bridge over the Washington Channel and East Potomac Park,

1197-613: The bus starts on Wisconsin Avenue at Whitehaven Street in Georgetown. Westbound, the route starts in the bus level of the Union Station parking garage. This line operates between Woodley Park , Adams Morgan , and McPherson Square via the 14th Street Corridor . Part of this route replaced the discontinued Metrobus 98 route. This line operates from Dupont Circle primarily via M Street through Georgetown and travels over

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1254-550: The center of the park for use as athletic fields in the summer of 1916 and again in the spring of 1917. But this land was turned over to the Boy Scouts of America for use as a victory garden . Much of the park remained undeveloped until 1913, when a "fieldhouse" with lockers and showers was proposed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers for construction toward the center of the park. No funding for

1311-475: The commission released a document known as McMillan Plan in 1902. The McMillan Plan called for turning the undeveloped land into a formal park with extensive recreation facilities. Infilling of the East Potomac Park island continued long after the island was considered complete. In 1906, a large elliptical depression covering about 14 acres (57,000 m) existed in the center of the island. Due to

1368-491: The course. Although funding for construction was approved in May 1918, work was delayed during World War I as temporary soldiers' barracks were built in and victory gardens were extensively planted throughout East Potomac Park. The first nine holes opened on July 7, 1920. A three-hole practice course opened in June 1922, and was expanded to a full nine holes some time in 1923. The final nine holes opened in late September 1924. Work on

1425-559: 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). Much of the dredged material was used to build up the existing tidal flats in the Potomac River as well as sandbars which had been created by silting around Long Bridge. Reclamation occurred in three phases: Section 1 (became 135-acre (550,000 m) West Potomac Park ), section 2 (became

1482-402: The demolition of some temporary office trailers currently on the northern corner of the complex's parking lot. A new 13,000-square-foot (1,200 m) USPP District 1 station would be constructed on the site of the temporary trailers, allowing the fieldhouse to be returned to public use. (There was no announcement made about the use of the 1913 lodge.) The $ 28 million project was being overseen by

1539-461: The distance to shore, the Corps of Engineers felt it was not feasible to fill in the area. But a contractor, eager to be rid of dredged material, filled it in for free in 1908. A portion of the park then served in 1910 as a nursery for providing trees, shrubs, and flowers for Congress, the White House, and other governmental agencies. Congress gave permission for the Corps to open East Potomac Park to

1596-410: The fieldhouse occurred alongside the golf course. Construction by the A.C. Moses Construction Co. began in June 1917. By this time, the single fieldhouse had become two fieldhouses, each slightly L-shaped with the long wing of the building on a northeast-southwest axis. The two structures were connected by a breezeway on the south side. World War I delayed their completion, and funding for the structures

1653-459: The fieldhouse was provided, but the following year the Corps of Engineers, acting on a request from local sportsmen, won approval for construction of a golf course on the lower two-thirds of the park. Work on the course was delayed for a variety of reasons, but construction finally began in January 1917, when golf course architect Walter Travis visited the city to see the site and begin designing

1710-404: The first time, planting 46,650 shrubs and flowering plants and 203 Japanese cherry trees (or sakura ) along the roadway. Another 133 Japanese cherry trees were planted in spring 1916. One of the first structures added to East Potomac Park was the National Park Service (NPS) lodge. The Corps of Engineers had originally proposed constructing a small lodge in East Potomac Park in 1908 to serve as

1767-556: The island. Dredging of the Potomac River continued even after East Potomac Park was considered finished, and additional dredged material was placed on the island in late 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, and 1907. Beginning in late 1907, a bridge was built across the Tidal Basin Outlet Channel, carrying the Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Electric Railway (a streetcar line) over the Washington Channel and

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1824-569: The line again during summer seasons. Until 2011 this line ran only on summer weekends, serving the National Mall in a loop along Constitution Avenue , 1st Street NE/SE, Independence Avenue , and 17th Street NW/SW. The line was replaced by the more extensive National Mall route in June 2015. A north-south line connected the Washington Convention Center with the Southwest Waterfront and operated primarily along 7th and 9th streets, which have bus lanes . The service

1881-583: The major attractions on or near the Mall, including ones that are at some distance from Metro stations, such as the Lincoln , Jefferson , World War II , FDR , and Martin Luther King. Jr. memorials. This line operates from Woodley Park station to Smithsonian National Zoo during the summer season. The service first run operated between May 4, 2019 and September 30, 2019. DC Circulator plans on operating

1938-584: The modern intersection of 17th Street NW and Constitution Avenue NW, the city's sewer system discharged into an extensive tidal flat, known as Kidwell's Meadows. Exposed to the air about half the time, the sewage began decomposing, creating a powerful, rank smell. The southern part of the Pennsylvania Avenue district was flooded many times in the last three decades of the 19th century. Major floods occurred in October 1870 (during which Chain Bridge

1995-471: The operator of the Circulator. From February 2019 until October 2019, DC Circulator rides were free under Mayor Bowser Fair Shot initiative. However the $ 1 fare was reinstated due to increased ridership. However some city officials are looking into reinstating the free rides. Rides were free again due to the COVID-19 pandemic until the $ 1 fare was reinstated again on October 1, 2021. On July 29, 2024,

2052-431: The original concrete pool was removed and replaced with a pool consisting of an aluminum shell encased in fiberglass. The bath house was also replaced at this time. The original 1936 pool deck and underground pool structures remained in place, however. The pool was closed at the end of 2016 for an upgrade. In 2020 the project was halted and the pool was "deconstructed" due to an erroneous report that mis-stated how far below

2109-539: The park, and there is no Washington Metro stop close to the park. The nearest Metro stop is the Smithsonian station at Independence Avenue SW and 12th Street SW, about six blocks away. (Walking from Metro requires accessing the park via Raoul Wallenberg Place SW, Maine Avenue SW, and Ohio Drive SW.) Although the shoreline of the Potomac River in the District of Columbia was likely to have been littered with shoals, sandbars, and marsh flats, no documentation of these

2166-511: The public in August 1912. In September 1912, the Corps began construction of a 30-foot-wide (9.1 m) road on the Potomac River shoreline of East Potomac Park. Work continued on the Potomac River shoreline in 1914, and continued up the Washington Channel side. The road on the Channel side was completed in spring 1915, leaving a temporary road around the southern tip of the island. This portion of

2223-509: The reasons for ending the service. On April 18, 2007, a driver of a bus was off-duty and had left the bus to attend to other business. While he was out of the bus, the bus rolled back and crashed into a Georgetown University building. One woman was injured. The DC Circulator has six lines operating at 10-minute intervals. This east-west line connects Georgetown with Washington Union Station and operates primarily along Wisconsin Avenue , K Street , and Massachusetts Avenue . Eastbound,

2280-507: The road was finished in late June 1915. Congress transferred jurisdiction of East Potomac Park to the District of Columbia from the federal government in legislation enacted on August 1, 1914. At the time, public works in the District of Columbia were overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers, so this legislation effectively placed the park under the Corps' jurisdiction. Spring 1915 saw the Corps extensively landscape East Potomac Park for

2337-461: The seawall and sidewalk along the southern tip of the park was in such bad shape that the National Park Service closed the area to all pedestrian traffic in 2014. DC Circulator The DC Circulator is a bus system in Washington, D.C. The District of Columbia Department of Transportation operates the service in a public–private partnership with RATP Dev . The DC Circulator buses are similar to shuttle buses since they operate on

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2394-402: The surface the groundwater is. In 1956, the National Park Service (NPS), which owned and supervised operation of East Potomac Park, adopted a strategic plan known as Mission 66. This ten-year strategic plan was designed to bring all NPS facilities nationwide up-to-date, and construct new facilities where needed. Mission 66 proposed building three new structures in East Potomac Park. The first

2451-576: The use of public land and design of building in the National Capital Area, although members (but not staff) of the United States Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission were later briefed about the project and sworn to secrecy. The ongoing activity, The Washington Post reported, is presumed to be related to national security. The Navy declined to address the project other than to say it

2508-417: Was "utility assessment and upgrade", and that when the work was finished only a small utility shed will remain (with landscaping restored to its previous condition). By 2015, East Potomac Park had fallen into disrepair. The 5-mile (8.0 km) long riprap seawall was disintegrating, sidewalks throughout the park were often cracked and buckled, and the miniature golf course was worn and dirty. A portion of

2565-643: Was chairman of the Committee on Manufactures in the 51st and 52nd congresses, and of the Committee on the District of Columbia in the 54th through 57th congresses. He is also remembered for his chairmanship of the Senate Park Improvement Commission of the District of Columbia (better known as the McMillan Commission ), which recommended the redesign of the National Mall to better reflect Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant 's plan for Washington, D.C. The McMillan Reservoir and

2622-450: Was constructed around the park perimeter in 1935. A pool was first proposed for East Potomac Park in 1927, to be located between the two fieldhouses (which would now serve as bath houses). This effort was a private one, but approved by the city. But no work on the project was made. It wasn't until April 1935 that the federal government approved and provided funding for a pool, and even then construction did not begin until 1936. By this time,

2679-538: Was destroyed), February 1881, November 1887, and June 1889 (the same storm which caused the Johnstown Flood ). Floodwaters were high enough that rowboats were used on the avenue, and horse-drawn streetcars saw water reach the bottom of the trams. After a disastrous flood in 1881, the United States Army Corps of Engineers dredged a deep channel in the Potomac and used the material to fill in the Potomac (creating

2736-608: Was eliminated on September 25, 2011 due to low ridership. A new Metrobus route, 74, was opened on September 23, 2011 along the 7th Street corridor between the Washington Convention Center and the Waterfront neighborhood, replacing the Circulator line and the eliminated portion of Metrobus Routes 70 and 71 from Pennsylvania Avenue to the South. The 74 bus costs more to ride and offers less frequent service, but

2793-903: Was one of the largest in the United States. Its success led to the formation of the Detroit Car Wheel Co., the Baugh Steam Forge Co., the Detroit Iron Furnace Co., and the Vulcan Furnace Co. He was also a major shareholder in the Detroit City Railway . McMillan later built and became president of the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway. He was largely interested in shipbuilding and lake transportation companies. He

2850-573: Was one of the largest owners of the Detroit and Cleveland Steam Navigation Co., and the Detroit Transportation Co., and was a director of several banks in Detroit. For three years he was president of the Detroit Board of Park Commissioners and for four years a member of the Detroit Board of Estimates. In 1886, he joined with John S. Newberry in contributing $ 100,000 each for the maintenance of a hospital in Detroit. McMillan

2907-599: Was reconstructed in 1980. Congress designated Hains Point , the southern tip of the park, as the site for a National Peace Garden in 1988. But authorization for the memorial expired without any construction occurring. In 2003, the United States Navy enclosed 4 acres (16,000 m) of the park between the NCR/USPP office building's parking lot and the railroad tracks, and constructed a large steel shed there. The construction bypassed normal review procedures for

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2964-432: Was reinstated on June 15, 2015. The route is operated in collaboration with the National Park Service . A report released in March 2011 calls for developing better routes to replace those that had served the National Mall and Southwest Waterfront, and adding new service to the U Street Corridor , portions of Upper Northwest , and neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River . In 2018, RATP Dev replaced First Transit as

3021-577: Was replaced by the Eastern Market – L’Enfant Plaza route on June 24, 2018. Also this route replaced the discontinued Metrobus N22 line. James McMillan (politician) James McMillan (May 12, 1838 – August 10, 1902) was an American politician and businessman who was a Republican U.S. Senator from Michigan , as well as the chair of the McMillan Commission . McMillan was born in Hamilton , Upper Canada , to William and Grace McMillan, both Scottish natives. He attended Hamilton public schools before moving to Detroit, Michigan , in 1855 to embark on

3078-436: Was scarce. Only one fieldhouse was ready by June 1919, and little additional work had been completed by August 1921. But with the golf course rapidly expanding, the single fieldhouse was quickly overwhelmed. The first fieldhouse was finished and the second one begun and completed by December 1921. A teahouse , a campground for tourists, and horse stables were built in the park in the 1920s. A four-mile-long pedestrian promenade

3135-437: Was the headquarters of the NPS' National Capital Region (NCR), constructed in the northern part of the park near the south shoreline and completed in 1963. The second was the headquarters of the United States Park Police (USPP), built adjacent to the NCR Headquarters and completed in 1964. Both buildings were designed by William M. Haussmann, an architect who was chief of the National Capital Office of Design and Construction in

3192-512: Was the only person to be elected Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party three non-consecutive times (1879, 1886 and 1890). He was a presidential elector on the Republican ticket in 1884. He was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1889 and was reelected in 1895 and 1901, serving from March 4, 1889, until his death. He was a dominant figure in the party, leading the business interests especially in opposition to Progressive reformer Governor Hazen S. Pingree in 1897–1900. He

3249-405: Was undertaken until 1834. At that time, the United States Army 's Corps of Topographical Engineers identified extensive tidal flats below Long Bridge (the predecessor structure to the 14th Street Bridge ). These varied in size, but the largest was 100 acres (400,000 m) in size at low tide . By 1881, these extended from about the Old Naval Observatory down to Buzzard Point . Near

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