Glen Echo Park
National Park Service Unit · Glen Echo, Maryland
A former amusement park on the Potomac that began in 1891 as a Chautauqua assembly, ran rides and dance bands from 1899 to 1968, and is now a National Park Service arts centre with studios, theatres and dances in the Spanish Ballroom. The 1921 Dentzel carousel still turns. The park was whites-only for its entire commercial life, and the sit-ins that Howard University students and local families staged on that carousel in 1960 are the reason it was integrated the following year — which the park now tells as its central story rather than a footnote.
7300 MacArthur Boulevard, Glen Echo, Maryland, 20812, United States
THE PARK IS FREE and the grounds are open daily. ⚠ THE 1921 DENTZEL CAROUSEL IS SEASONAL — generally May to September on limited days, with a small fare per ride — and does not run in winter. Studios, galleries and the visitor centre keep daytime hours. Social dances in the Spanish Ballroom, theatre performances and classes are run and ticketed by resident organisations and have their own calendars. Parking is free and shared with Clara Barton National Historic Site.