In 1819, John Porter erected a mansion here on Meridian Hill so called because it was on the exact longitude of the original District of Columbia milestone marker, set down on April 15, 1791. In 1829, the mansion became departing President John Quincy Adams's home. After its conversion to a public park, Union troops encamped on the grounds during the Civil War.

The U.S. government purchased the grounds in 1910 and hired landscape architects George Burnap and Horace Peaslee who planned an Italian style garden. The structures made revolutionary use of concrete aggregate as a building material.

Notable Features

• The thirteen basin cascading fountain is the longest in North America
• Joan of Arc statue is only equestrian statue of a woman in Washington, D.C.
• Dante statue
• James Buchanan Memorial 

Sited on the escarpment of the Potomac floodplains, the 900-foot, flat, upper terrace of the park originally held commanding vistas of the city, with a central grass mall, side promenades, and a linden allée of distinct French style, culminating with a bronze statue of Joan of Arc. The steeply sloping lower level is stylistically Italianate. Inspired by the fountains of Villa Aldobrandini, in Frascasti, Peaslee designed a grand central cascade, which flows through 13 graduated basins into a large reflecting pool. Four large sculptures decorate the park. The chief designer of the park’s planting plan was Ferruccio Vitale.

A major force behind the development of this ambitious park was Mary Foote Henderson, wife of Missouri Senator John Henderson and an enthusiastic advocate for the development of this neighborhood as a Beaux-Art cultural center for Washington, including relocating the White House, and including embassies, monuments, and presidential memorials.  She purchased land, commissioned designs for multiple buildings, and lobbied Congress continually on behalf of her vision.

The site of racial protest in the 1970s, the park was unofficially renamed Malcolm X Park. It became a National Historic Landmark in 1994 and is now maintained by the National Park Service.

Credits and Sources:

Courtesy of The Cultural Landscape Foundation® (TCLF)  https://tclf.org/landscapes/meridian-hill-park 

and U.S. Park Service, Department of Interior, https://www.nps.gov/places/meridian-hill-park.htm