From the Newsstands: This story appeared in The Eagle's April 2024 print edition. You can find the digital version here.
Tenleytown houses Wawa snacks, Target shopping, spots to wait for the Metrobus and an important lengthy history in the Tenleytown Heritage Trail. The trail has 19 points on a walking path — all of which highlight the hidden history of one of D.C.’s oldest neighborhoods.
The Tenleytown path — one of 17 D.C. neighborhood trails that feature local historical events — was erected in 2010. The heritage trail was a collaboration between the nonprofit Cultural Tourism DC, the Tenleytown Historical Society and others. The trail, named “Top of the Town,” stretches three miles and aims to teach visitors and residents about the town they call home.
Dania Jolley, the deputy chief of staff and cultural affairs at Events DC, explained that these trails offer an opportunity to learn local history in the background of the nation's capital.
“[The program] began with two goals,” Jolley said. “One is helping visitors move beyond the federal monuments and memorials to learn about and enjoy Washington, historic neighborhoods, and also promoting local neighborhoods.” She added that American University students “should know about the area that they live in and walk around every day.”
AU has its own marker on the trail, #17, on Ward Circle. According to The Historical Marker Database, the sign emphasizes the history of the University and mentions Methodist Bishop John Fletcher Hurst — who founded AU — and the original landowners of the area that the campus rests on, but leaves out the fact that Hurst was an enslaver. The inscription also highlights John F. Kennedy’s commencement speech in 1963.
Devry Becker Jones, the regional and topical editor of The Historical Marker Database, said that AU’s marker is the most popular on the website and explained that the marker “tells a nice story” for students, later adding that the organizations that created this specific trail were very well researched.
2024 also marks the 25th anniversary of Walking Town DC. The program will celebrate with 25 walking tours, starting with the heritage trails in September. Walking Town is an annual walk that takes visitors through the eight wards of D.C. “to showcase the city's art, culture and history.”
The heritage trail highlights Tenleytown’s namesake of John Tennally’s tavern (marker #8), Kermit the Frog’s birth at WRC’s headquarters where NBC4 currently sits (marker #18) and Fort Reno’s impact on Civil War history — which has since been demolished to make an underground water reservoir (marker #5).
Matt Frumin, the Ward 3 councilmember, helped create the trail during his time serving on the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3E and talked about American University being one of the “first things other than Reno City that’s up in this area.”
“Sometimes the neighbors think, oh, American University, the kids impose on our quality of life in some way. They were here first, right?” Frumin said, adding how he feels about the history that the trail shares with readers.
“The trail enables us to be conscious of a really critical view,” Frumin said. “It's just an absolutely great thing.”
This article was edited by Abigail Hatting, Abigail Turner and Abigail Pritchard. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Isabelle Kravis, Liah Argiropoulos, Sarah Clayton and Ariana Kavoossi.
