Carousel of Progress

Glen Echo Park Reimagines its Past

By Offering Attractions for All Ages

By Jeanne Blackburn

GLEN ECHO—Who doesn’t like a carousel? What about a puppet show for small children or a summer art camp for the older ones? And how does a Saturday night swing dance class or a hands-on intro to blown glass for adults sound? 

This is just a smattering of the attractions that abound throughout the year at Glen Echo Park in southern Montgomery County.

Initially developed in 1891 as a National Chautauqua Assembly in Glen Echo, the site was reconfigured in 1911 by real estate developer brothers Edwin and Edward Baltzley to include an amusement park. Hoping to provide a respite from the oppressive Washington, D.C., summers, the park boasted a swimming pool with a sand beach, a game arcade, rides, the Spanish Ballroom with a stage for music productions, picnic grounds and a handsome Dentzel carousel.

For decades, it drew visitors not only to its summertime leisure attractions, but also to artistic endeavors, learning and music. But civil unrest in the 1960s at the formerly racially segregated park led to its eventual closure. The iconic Art Deco-designed buildings fell into disrepair, the swimming pool was filled in and the parts from the shuttered rides were sold. What was once a busy, loud place turned empty and quiet.

In 1970, the National Park Service began a years-long restoration project to return the park to its former relevance to the community--as a destination for families, a venue for music and dance, and a hub of artistic creativity and learning.  The grounds were re-landscaped, the once-stunning buildings repainted and repurposed and the beautiful 1921 Dentzel menagerie carousel was refurbished, eventually returning a sense of festivity and enjoyment to the park. (The carousel is the only ride still standing and in use from the former amusement park.)

Today, Glen Echo Park offers something of interest to everyone, kids and adults alike. 

Pack a picnic lunch or check out the menu at the cafe, relax under the trees in the park and marvel at the curvilinear Art Deco commercial architecture of the early 20th century all around. Time your visit right and there might be an art, glass or pottery gallery or two open in the old Arcade Building or Yellow Barn.

Check the park’s website (www.glenechopark.org) for special events and classes for the children. Among the most popular ones are the puppet show productions at Adventure Theatre (tickets are required). There are also summer art camps in painting, drawing, ceramics and fused glass, and Saturday classes in painting and drawing for kids ages 5-17.

Toddlers and small children will be enchanted by the tanks full of fish and other Chesapeake Bay area marine life at the Glen Echo Park Aquarium.

But classes aren’t just for kids. There’s a dizzying array of creative instruction for adults by the talented and experienced instructors at Glen Echo. Here you will find painting in several media, photography, silver-smithing/jewelry-making, glass-blowing and fused glass, and ceramics and pottery, among other crafts.

Or just for fun, join the spirited groups that gather in the Spanish Ballroom on Saturday evenings for a short lesson before the swing, ballroom, contra or zydeco dances begin.

Coming up soon is the annual Labor Day Art Show and sale from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2. Think ahead to holiday shopping, or just come and browse the wealth of original art available in framed paintings, jewelry, glass and pottery.

Glen Echo Park is also a charming setting for special events, too. The spacious Bumper Car Pavilion building is available to rent for parties, reunions, weddings and other events.

Less than an hour’s drive from most parts of Frederick County, Glen Echo Park is convenient and fun. For everyone.