It begins on Wisconsin Avenue outside the Tenleytown-AU Metro station near what was once the location of Tenleytown’s namesake, John Tenally’s tavern, according to Jane Waldmann, president of the Tenleytown Historical Society.
Most of the trail’s 19 sites are concentrated in the neighborhood’s historical hub that surrounded the tavern, but the trail extends to Ward Circle via Nebraska Avenue. Signs mark the sites and provide information along the trail’s route.
Sign 13 denotes several historical sites that surround AU’s Tenley Campus. The Tenleytown Historical Society wants AU to preserve the Dunblane residence and the former Immaculata Seminary, which are located on campus, Waldmann said.
“I have said to the architect that if he tries to tear [Dunblane] down I’m going to chain myself to it,” she said.
AU does not have plans for the campus yet, according to Penny Pagano, AU’s director of Community and Local Government Relations. But it will have a historic preservation plan for the whole campus, she said.
The title of the trail, “Top of the Town,” highlights Tenleytown’s elevation above the rest of the District, which attracted broadcasting stations to the area throughout its development, Waldmann said.
Sign 18 marks the NBC and WRC studios on Nebraska Avenue, where Kermit the Frog launched his career and “Meet the Press” got started.
The Union army’s Fort Reno, marked by sign 6, provided a haven for runaway slaves during the Civil War and became an integrated community by the early 1900s. AU alumnus Neil E. Heyden completed research in 1981 about the Civil War-era community of Reno City, which was razed in the early twentieth century for municipal projects.
Heyden’s paper, entitled “The Fort Reno Community: The Conversion and its Causes,” was integral in confirming details for the sign at that juncture of the trail, according to Tenleytown Heritage Trail Working Group chair Carolyn Long. The paper is available in the AU library.
The Tenleytown Neighbors Association and Tenleytown Historical Society jointly pursued support for the trail from Cultural Tourism D.C., a coalition of 230 member organizations that provide culture and heritage experiences that are authentic to D.C., according to its website.
“This is very much a community-driven project,” said Sarah Fairbrother, Cultural Tourism D.C.’s project director of heritage programs. She said it has managed eleven trails in the District.
The Katzen Center, a member of Cultural Tourism D.C., will remain open an hour longer for visitors from the trail’s launch event Nov. 13, according to Katherine Gannon, public relations coordinator of the College of Arts and Sciences.
The District Department of Transportation funded the three-mile Tenleytown trail and chaired the advisory committee that approved it, according to Fairbrother.
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3E provided a $2,000 grant to the Tenleytown Historical Society for the launch event on Nov. 13, according to the ANC 3E chair Matthew Frumin.
“The trail is a fabulous, fabulous addition to the community and one that we are very proud to be supporting,” Frumin said.
Informational brochures to supplement the trail will be available Nov. 1, and may be available at AU and the Tenley-Friendship Library, according to Waldmann.
kdakin@theeagleonline.com
Correction: An earlier version of this article identified Neil E. Heyden as Neil F. Heyden. This version has been corrected.
