Shepherd Parkway
| Shepherd Parkway | |
|---|---|
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| Location | District of Columbia |
| Nearest city | Washington, D.C. |
| Coordinates | 38°49′56.5″N 77°00′46.6″W / 38.832361°N 77.012944°WCoordinates: 38°49′56.5″N 77°00′46.6″W / 38.832361°N 77.012944°W |
| Area | 205.51 acres (0.8317 km2) |
| Established | 1927 |
| Governing body | National Capital Parks-East, National Park Service |
Shepherd Parkway is part of the Civil War Defenses of Washington. It includes two forts (Forts Greble and Carroll), of which some remains still exist. The parkway runs along the high ground opposite the Anacostia Freeway (Interstate 295) from Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling in the District of Columbia. Shepherd Parkway is bordered on the north by St. Elizabeths Campus and the District of Columbia neighborhoods of Congress Heights and Bellevue and on the south (near Oxon Run) by Bald Eagle Hill.
The National Capital Parks and Planning Commission began acquiring land in 1927 for a parkway, Fort Drive, to connect a ring of parks made up of Civil War defenses around the city. Shepherd Parkway was the first land acquired; although the parkway was never completed, the land remains urban open space.
Alexander Robey Shepherd was Washington's second governor. A native Washingtonian and veteran of the Civil War, he was successful in the plumbing and gas-fitting industries. As governor, he paved roads in the city and developed a sewage system. Shepherd Parkway may have been named for Shepherd, who encouraged the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to extend a line through Giesborough south over the Potomac River to Alexandria, Virginia.
At the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861, George Washington Young offered to sell his land to the government for $100,000. Although his offer was declined, the Union army rented the land for $6,000 per year. The following year, Young freed his slaves when the DC Compensated Emancipation Law was enacted.
Sixty-eight fortifications were built to defend Washington (the Union Army headquarters) from Confederate attack. Shepherd Parkway was used for fortifications, military roads, the Camp Stoneman cavalry camp (named for Cavalry Bureau chief George Stoneman) and hospitals (Saint Elizabeth and another, near Fort Carroll).
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Wikipedia