National Park Seminary
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National Park Seminary Historic District
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May Day festivities at National Park Seminary in 1907
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| Location | Linden Lane near I-495, Forest Glen, Maryland |
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| Coordinates | 39°00′43″N 77°03′21″W / 39.01194°N 77.05583°WCoordinates: 39°00′43″N 77°03′21″W / 39.01194°N 77.05583°W |
| Area | 23 acres (9.3 ha) |
| Built | 1890 |
| Architect | Emily Elizabeth Holman |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and early 20th century American movements, late 19th and 20th century revivals, Greek revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 72000586 |
| Added to NRHP | September 14, 1972 |
National Park Seminary — later called National Park College — was a private girls' school open from 1894 to 1942. Located in Forest Glen, Maryland, its name alludes to nearby Rock Creek Park. The historic campus is to be preserved as the center of a new housing development.
The campus began in 1887 as "Ye Forest Inne," a summer vacation retreat for Washington, D.C., residents. The retreat did not succeed financially, and the property was sold and redeveloped as a finishing school, opening in 1894 with a class of 48 female students. The architecture of the campus remained eclectic and whimsical. In addition to various Victorian styles, exotic designs included a Dutch windmill, a Swiss chalet, a Japanese pagoda, an Italian villa, and an English castle. Many of these small homes with international designs were built from blueprints obtained by competing sororities, but all were designed by architect Emily Elizabeth Holman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The campus also featured covered walkways, outdoor sculptures, and elaborately planned formal gardens. Among the administration was Assistant Dean of the College, Miss Edna Roeckel. In 1936 it was renamed "National Park College" and its focus was realigned with more modern education trends; it remained one of the most prestigious women's schools in the country.
With the onset of World War II, the United States Army began planning for the medical needs of returning soldiers. In 1942, the property was acquired by Walter Reed Army Hospital as a medical facility for disabled soldiers, thus closing the college. The Army paid $890,000 for the land and buildings that became the Walter Reed Forest Glen Annex. The goal was to provide to seriously injured service members a quiet, green space for rehabilitation and recovery that was within a short drive from the heavily urbanized neighborhood surrounding the hospital. Following World War II and the Korean War, the U.S. Army attempted to maintain the space with progressively limited funds; the U.S. Army employed some of the unique sorority houses as base housing for military officers who organized themselves and enlisted soldiers to maintain the seminary space. Eventually, however, the Army lost sufficient funding from the U.S. Congress during the 1960-1970s to maintain the space and was compelled to declare the property excess, pending transfer to the General Services Administration to find a new owner.
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