ANACOSTIA RIVER

River of Life Anacostia River

Washington DC is home to two rivers, the Potomac in the western part of the city, and the Anacostia in the east. The Anacostia River is formed by the confluence of two principal tributaries, the Northwest Branch and the Northeast Branch in the town of Bladensburg in suburban Maryland. From there it flows for 13.5 km through Washington DC, America’s capital city, where it empties into the Potomac River approximately 174 km upstream of the Chesapeake Bay. The waters from Chesapeake Bay flow out into the Atlantic Ocean. Although it has a tidal effect that is felt upstream as far as Bladensburg, the waters of the Anacostia move slowly, flushing inefficiently and making it especially vulnerable to contamination. Evidence of this can be seen at its confluence with the Potomac River where the dramatic difference in colour between the mixing waters is due to the high level of sediment in the Anacostia. Captain John Smith was the first European explorer to visit the area. He traveled along the Anacostia while surveying the navigable waters of the Potomac region in 1608. Smith's reports about the region opened the door for subsequent European settlement. Farmers cleared forested land to plant

profitable crops of tobacco and wheat. These days, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens is all that remains of the vast marshlands that originally characterized this area and it is the only place where you can really imagine the landscape before it became America's capital. Incidentally, Captain John Smith is best known for his friendship with the Virginia Native American girl Pocahontas (Disney’s version pictured left). The name Anacostia comes from the Nanchotank Indian word anaquash, meaning "village trading centre"; these days it is often referred to as the “forgotten river" since it rarely appears on maps and in tourist guides. Locally, it has a lower profile than its adjoining DC river, the Potomac. However, initiatives like the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, are working to reverse this trend. The city’s new baseball stadium was built on the banks of the Anacostia, and a vibrant nightlife, condos and restaurants are moving in as a result. The vision for Washington as imagined by Pierre L’Enfant, the city’s original town planner, was for the Anacostia waterfront to be a center for commerce and residential development and location for the city’s principal docks. But centuries of pollution and poor urban development turned Washington’s back to the Anacostia.

Anacostia River was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2010 Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme www.thamesfestival.org

ANACOSTIA RIVER

River of Life Habitat

The habitat of the Anacostia River area has changed dramatically in the past three hundred years. Today over 70% of the watershed is developed land and about 25% is original forest cover. The image on the left shows original Anacostia landscape looking downriver from Bladensburg Waterfront Park. Until the mid-17th century, the Anacostia contained healthy populations of American and hickory shad, white and yellow perch, red-breasted sunfish, catfish, and herring, providing the Nanchotank Indians and others living in the surrounding region with a seemingly limitless source of food. Lush forests and abundant wildlife complemented the crystal

clear river that flowed into the Potomac River and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay. This was a land of plenty. But with the arrival of European settlers and the intensification of agriculture in the region, particularly tobacco and wheat, the Anacostia and its streams began to erode and fill with silt and pollutants. Large plantations sprouted up and the harvest was loaded onto seagoing vessels in Bladensburg for onward shipment to England. By the mid-19th century most of the watershed was cultivated and eroded soil from upland agricultural fields had carried downstream as silt and this had rendered the port at Bladenburg inaccessible. Intense urbanisation in the 20th century resulted in further loss of forest and wetland areas, increased pollution and discharges of combined sewer overflow and industrial waste. The shape of the Anacostia also changed dramatically. Between 1902 and 1926, the Army Corps of Engineers dredged the river bottom, filled and eradicated most of the river’s remaining fringe wetlands, and radically transformed the river’s edge by constructing embankments. Despite its poor water quality, these days the Anacostia River and parklands still provide important habitat for an impressive array of wildlife. Bird species are found in open water and throughout the wetlands, scub, fields, woodland and urban environments. These include rare and majestic birds, such as the great blue heron, great egret, bald eagle, red-bellied woodpecker, willow flycatcher, red-tailed hawk and song sparrow, in addition to the normal array of city-dwellers like the American robin, house sparrow, blue jay and Northern mockingbird. Parts of the riverbanks also support beavers, river otters, mink and red and gray foxes, plus mammals adapted to city life such as raccoons and squirrels. Amphibian fauna include the spotted salamander, Eastern painted turtle, bull-frog and black rat snake. Fish species include blue-black herring, white perch, largemouth bass, brown bullheads, spottailed shiners, banded killifish and catfish.

Anacostia River was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2010 Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme www.thamesfestival.org

ANACOSTIA RIVER

Polluted River Forgotten River Much of the Anacostia's pollution is caused by storm water runoff, a problem closely linked to urban sprawl. More development means more roads, pavements, parking lots and rooftops. As a result, the water that was once absorbed and filtered by soil and plants now runs over the hard surfaces, picking up pollutants which are then dumped directly into the river. 83% of the Anacostia watershed lies in suburban Maryland and unsurprisingly, over 80% of the pollutants in the river originate from here. In an effort to solve this problem there are schemes to encourage the planting of rain gardens, using porous paving in parking areas and state-of-the-art urban forestry techniques like ‘green’ roofs. In future, it is proposed that new buildings will have to retain and filter runoff on-site or route storm

water to filtrating wetlands designed as attractive water features in adjacent parkland. Scientists estimate that rain gardens can absorb up to 50% of storm water volumes; it can also trap 94% of the sediment, 70% of the nitrogen and 43% of the phosphorus washed off the land by rain. Plastic bags, bottles, wrappers and styrofoam make up a large part of the discarded rubbish. A new law, effective from 1 January 2010, bans non-recyclable plastic bags from shops and imposes a 5-cent fee, paid by consumers, on all disposable recyclable bags. Most of the proceeds from this tax will go to cleaning up the Anacostia. Over the years, industrial uses have also damaged the river. Toxins from manufacturing plants and electricity generating stations have settled into the river’s sediment where any disturbance re-releases them into the water, further damaging its quality. Approximately one third of Washington is served by a combined sewer system. Built in 1871, it once carried both sanitary sewage and storm water runoff in one piping system to the Potomac and Anacostia. One hundred years later, the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant was built to intercept and treat wastewater before it discharged into the rivers. The system functions well during dry weather. However, following significant rainfall, the sheer volume of water overwhelms the capacity of the pipes and the excess flow, which includes sanitary waste, is discharged directly into the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers, Rock Creek Park and tributary streams. Over 60% of the system’s annual outfall issues via 17 outlets into the Anacostia dumping a total of two billion gallons of dilute wastewater and storm water into the river. Successful lawsuits filed against the sanitation companies resulted in huge payouts and commitments to reduce the number of times wastewater is discharged into the river from an annual average of 80 to an annual average of just two. This will involve building new pipes with greater capacities and re-siting some of the existing water-pumping stations.

Anacostia River was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2010 Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme www.thamesfestival.org

ANACOSTIA RIVER

Resourceful River Smoke & Slaves Tobacco was the first profitable cash crop in the New World. Smoking became popular as early as 1614 at the Court of James I. For the first land settlers, tobacco was an easy beginners crop. It could be planted on freshly cleared land, and needed little tending in the humid, almost sub-tropical climate around the Anacostia. But a tobacco field could only produce four years of good yields before it drained the soil of essential nutrients. After that, the farmer had to clear new land to plant; the old fields needed some 20 years to recover. The first African slaves appeared in the Anacostia region in 1696. The importation of slaves enabled tobacco planters to clear more land and produce ever larger yields. By

1750, the high point of the tobacco economy, over half the white male population of the area owned slaves and as a consequence by this time too, the Anacostia region had lost nearly half its woodlands. The engraving on the left dates from 1820 and shows the tobacco industry in the Anacostia area. In the centre of the engraving, the scallop, shell, cask and fouled anchor symbolize the ties between the plantations and merchant shipping. In 1740, ocean-going ships could make the journey 13km up the Anacostia to reach the port at Bladensburg. The depth of the river here was 40 feet at high tide. But as the forested land in the watershed area was cut and cleared, the exposed soil eroded rapidly. The sluggish Anacostia couldn’t cope with these sediments and the river rapidly silted. By 1853 the docks in Bladensburg were inaccessible to large commercial ships and soon after they were abandoned. Today, the river is only a couple of inches deep here at low tide. The American Civil War (1861 to 65) and the abolition of slavery from 1862 coincided with a fall in demand for American tobacco. Farms around the Anacostia were broken up for urban development or into smaller units with the land use changing to market-garden crops like tomatoes, vegetables and melons. Many freed slaves found work in the Washington Navy Yard on the Anacostia in the boat and fishing trades and many settled on the east side of the river.

Anacostia River was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2010 Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme www.thamesfestival.org

ANACOSTIA RIVER

Resourceful River Tale of 2 Rivers

Washington’s two principal rivers have developed in very different ways. While the Potomac has been blessed with plentiful green space, with National landmarks like the Jefferson Memorial and the Marine Corps War Memorial gracing its banks, the Anacostia’s banks host the jail, incinerators, and power plants. Anacostia activists have continually fought projects that threaten to encroach upon the habitat. The state of any river will have a mental impact on the people who live in its vicinity. Those who live east of the river are in the most impoverished portion of the nation's capital, where

violence, unemployment, and lack of opportunity have shrunk the population to well under 100,000, with 38% living below the poverty line. Here, the polluted and inaccessible river is seen as one more avenue of hopelessness. However, with the central area of Washington almost fully developed, the Anacostia waterfront is emerging as the new growth corridor of the city and this is fueling the largest transformation of any urban waterfront in the United States. In 2003, full-scale plans to revamp the area began in earnest with the signing of the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative. This vision for the ambitious project involves a fundamental redefinition of both the Anacostia and the city of Washington. Plans include numerous parks restored with wetlands and forests, facilities for boats, playgrounds, a four-acre 9/11 Memorial Grove, and an Environmental Education Centre. This centre will engage visitors in learning about the history and use of the Anacostia River through a two-story complex topped by a green roof with classrooms, labs and a multipurpose area beneath. The Anacostia also plays host to the newly built baseball stadium, and its accompanying reastaurants and developments. Washington DC’s 25-year redevelopment plan includes creating a network of paths to nearby neighbourhoods and restoring green spaces long turned brown. These areas, such as Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens (pictured above), Kingman Island (pictured left), and Watts Branch Park (renamed Marvin Gaye Park), are currently saddled with rubbish, frequented by drug dealers, and often contaminated with toxic chemicals. Leaders also seek to create new housing, including low-income options, and to connect isolated neighbourhoods with a new light-railway system. And after a century's worth of sewer overflows, relief is expected soon: newly installed pumps and valves should result in 40% less raw sewage making its way to the river. These initiatives, and the groundswell of interest in waterfront renewal that drives them, present a golden opportunity for reviving the Anacostia.

Anacostia River was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2010 Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme www.thamesfestival.org

ANACOSTIA RIVER

Working River Navy Yard

Washington’s Navy Yard was sited on the west bank of the Anacostia in 1799. Soon after, in 1812, it played a key role in defending the city from British invasion. During its first years, it was the navy's largest shipbuilding and shipfitting facility and served as the main port for receiving materials to construct Washington’s monumental buildings. Ultimately, the Yard became the nation’s oldest continuously operating naval installation. Its bustling wharves were a hub for jobs making the Yard a magnet for commerce and development. Even after the river had become silted and unnavigable it still exerted economic influence on the wider area. During these times the

Navy Yard changed from ship-building to the production of finished ship products, weapons and ammunition. By the mid-19th century, development reached across the river via the 11th Street Bridge to a settlement then called Uniontown. In 1854 this was a whites-only working-class settlement for Navy Yard workers. Uniontown remained whites-only until 1877. The area is now called Anacostia. After the American Civil War of 1861 to 65, the large plantations in the Anacostia area became unviable and were broken up into smaller farms or were abandoned altogether. People flocked to the city, fuelling demand for houses and jobs. After the war, Washington’s African-American population grew to approximately 60,000, half the city’s total population. Many lived around the Navy Yard, which employed freed slaves and this initiated a long history of African-American neighbourhoods along the Anacostia. But the increasingly polluted and degraded state of the river diminished its value as an asset to the city. By World War II, the Yard was the largest naval ordnance plant in the world. At its peak it employed nearly 25,000 people. But post WWII demand fell off rapidly, jobs were lost and this had a significant effect on the economy of the whole area. Ordnance work was finally phased out in 1961 and three years later, the deserted factory buildings began to be converted to office use. Around this time, the elevated portion of the Southeast-Southwest Freeway was completed, creating a physical barrier for access to the Anacostia. The Yard was the scene of many scientific developments. A clockwork torpedo was developed during the War of 1812 and ten years later, the country's first marine railway for the overhaul of large vessels was built here. A bottle-shaped cannon, a ship model testing basin, the first shipboard aircraft catapult (which was tested in the Anacostia River in 1912) and giant gears for the Panama Canal locks were all developed at the Yard. Navy Yard technicians even applied their efforts to medical designs for prosthetic hands and molds for artificial eyes and teeth.

Anacostia River was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2010 Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme www.thamesfestival.org

ANACOSTIA RIVER

River City Washington DC

The first successful English colony was established in America in 1607 and a year later, pioneers under Captain John Smith were exploring the Potomac region. The colonists thrived on the back of slavery and a flourishing tobacco trade. The town of Alexandria was established in Virginia in 1749 and Georgetown in Maryland two years later. Congress established following the American War of Independence (1775 to 83) decided that a new federal capital was to be built on land bordering the Northern and Southern States on the peninsula formed by the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. A new District of Columbia (DC) was created for the city on land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia. The masterplan for the city was commissioned by George Washington and laid out in 1791 by Pierre L’Enfant, a French architect.

The original design favoured both the Potomac and the Anacostia waterfronts equally. In fact, the latter was considered to have the best access for trade and in 1799 the Navy Yard was located on its shores. But private investment was difficult to secure for these broad lowland areas that were susceptible to flooding and whose sluggish waters trapped pollutants. As a result, the Anacostia became neglected and bit-by-bit, the waterfront became the location for unwanted land uses. When Washington constructed its sewage system in the 1880s, the outflow went directly into the Anacostia. And later, its undeveloped riverbanks became the logical sites for railway lines for urban freeways. During the early 20th century, the Army Corps of Engineers played the principal role in forming the character of the Anacostia. They dredged the riverbed to improve navigation and constructed embankments to reclaim land. The dredged material from the riverbed was used to create two artificial islands, Kingman and Heritage Islands (left, looking downriver), which were originally planned as recreation areas. But poor access and lack of investment has led to neglect and abuse and currently they are closed to the public except for special events. Population growth in the Washington area exploded after World War II but following that it went into decline. However over the past decade there has been a 5% growth in population to 600,000 of which 54% are registered as African American and 40% as white. Unfortunately, the city’s notoriously high crime rates, unemployment, illiteracy and drug abuse are particularly acute in the Anacostia region east of the river.

Anacostia River was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2010 Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme www.thamesfestival.org

ANACOSTIA RIVER

River City Anacostia

Anacostia is the popular name for the huge swathe of the capital consisting of the many neighbourhoods east of the river. Its heart, in the small, historic neighbourhood of Anacostia, is immediately across the Frederick Douglass Bridge. The 2000 census records show that Anacostia's population is 92% African-American, 5% Non-Hispanic White and 3% other races. The area began to see

development as a part of the nation's capital in the 1850s, when Uniontown was developed as an affordable neighbourhood for workers employed at Washington Navy Yard across the river. Anacostia soon after gained one very famous resident just to the southeast in the abolitionist, prominent black intellectual, and former vice presidential candidate, Frederick Douglass, who became known as the Sage of Anacostia. Prevented from living in Uniontown proper by official segregation laws, the abolitionist Frederick Douglass bought Cedar Hill from one of Uniontown’s bankrupt founders. Most of the Anacostia's development took place in the early 20th century, particularly during The Great Migration of southern African-Americans to the North, and during World War I, when the US government built the Anacostia Naval Station and Bolling Airforce Base. The photo on the left shows the location of the station and base on the Potomac with the mouth of the Anacostia top left. Post World War II, Anacostia underwent rapid and dramatic demographic change from a population that was nearly 90% white to one that was (and is) over 90% black. The first catalyst for this change was the construction of the Anacostia Freeway (I-295), which cut off the entire population of Greater Anacostia from the waterfront (see photo above). Secondly, during the 1950s there was a large influx of new African-American residents and by 1957, the city became the nation's first majority black city. The third catalyst was the creation of many massive public housing schemes east of the river, which concentrated DC's poorest residents in areas far away from the city centre and its services and amenities.

Anacostia River was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2010 Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme www.thamesfestival.org

ANACOSTIA RIVER

River City Bridges

There are seven bridges across the Anacostia River in the Washington DC area. The first to be built was the Eastern Branch Bridge, a privately owned toll and drawbridge built in 1800 at the site of the current John Philip Sousa Bridge. It was blown up by retreating American soldiers in 1814 then rebuilt, but burned completely in 1846. Its destruction significantly slowed growth in the Anacostia and other areas east of the river for five decades. The current John Philip Sousa Bridge, which carries Pennsylvannia Avenue over the river, is named after an American composer and conductor known particularly for military and patriotic marches.

In 1820, the privately owned Upper Navy Yard Bridge was built over the Anacostia River at 11th Street. Also a toll bridge, this second bridge became a "free" bridge in 1848 after it was purchased by the federal government. The 11th Street Bridges are now a pair of one-way bridges. The southbound structure is officially named the Officer Kevin J. Welsh Memorial Bridge, while the northbound structure is officially called the 11th Street Bridge.

The Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, otherwise known as the South Capitol Street Bridge SE (photo above), is named after the abolitionist, women's suffragist, author and statesman Frederick Douglass, who was born a slave in Talbot County, Maryland. The Whitney Young Memorial Bridge, otherwise known as the East Capitol Street Bridge SE, was renamed after civil rights activist Whitney Young in 1973. The photo of the bridge on the left was taken in 1963. Other bridges over the Anacostia include the Amtrak Railroad Anacostia Bridge, also called the Magruder Branch Bridge, the Benning Road NE7 bridge by Kingman Island and the New York Ave NE bridge which carries Interstate 50 over the Anacostia by Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.

Anacostia River was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2010 Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme www.thamesfestival.org

ANACOSTIA RIVER

River Culture River Access

More than 50,000 people live within a 10-minute walk of the Anacostia yet there is no walkway to take them there. The Anacostia is cut off from residential areas around it by a regional highway system and there are few coherent connections between local streets and the waterfront. Even the bridges are of the motorway sort with little or no provision for pedestrians. And, if you do manage to reach the Anacostia, there are no continuous trails that allow people to walk along the waterfront. The Anacostia historically has divided communities east of the river from the majority of employment opportunities in Washington.

Three of the Anacostia’s seven bridges require major repair, reconstruction or replacement and this major infrastructural work offers opportunities for recovery. Current plans favour the replacement of the existing Frederick Douglass Bridge with a new river crossing and to rebuild the 11th Street Bridges as a smaller-scale local bridge that is pedestrian and cycle-friendly. A new tunnel under South Capitol Street is also proposed in order to divert cars from Interstates 395 and 295 and thus reduce the volume of traffic along the waterfront. Additional improvements, such as six new crossings over and under the Anacostia Freeway, are aimed at providing surrounding local roads access to the river. On the riverside itself, there are grand plans to construct 20 miles of Anacostia Riverwalk and Trail with three new pedestrian crossings at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Massachusetts Avenue and the Washington Channel. The plans for the Anacostia RiverParks represent the most ambitious vision for expanding Washington’s open spaces since the Mall and its great monuments and museums were laid out a century ago. The RiverParks will be the largest recreation area in Washington. It aims to provide over 20 miles of continuous river walks and cycle paths; a rich and varied waterfront for the enjoyment of all. Urban planners hope that these new walkways and parks will open up a ‘cultural corridor’ for new museums, national memorials, public art commissions, civic festivals and attractions linked with a new river transport system. A new park is proposed at the Hill East waterfront, there are plans to develop Poplar Point (left) as a signature landscaped garden with performance space; Navy Yard will be developed as a heritage and cultural destination; Kingman Island as a water sports zone and the upper reaches around Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens as an environmental zone.

Anacostia River was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2010 Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme www.thamesfestival.org

ANACOSTIA RIVER

Anacostia River was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2010 Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme www.thamesfestival.org

River Culture Water Activities

Along the Anacostia there are no townhouses and restaurants like those that face out on to the Potomac. At present, there are seven marinas and boating clubs in the lower Anacostia, all on the west side of the river. Including the Anacostia Community Boathouse by the 11th Street Bridges which is home to several canoe and kayak clubs and hosts regattas for high school rowers and Chinese dragon boat races. There is little development on the east side, except a boat ramp, but the Anacostia development plans include new boat landings at Good Hope Road and at the Recreation Centre in Anacostia

Park. On the west however, there are plans to enhance the marinas by creating a Boathouse Row and further facilites are planned up and down river. A long-term goal of improving the water quality in the Anacostia is to make the river clean enough to swim. Urban beaches are part of the new vision for the Anacostia waterfront. Fishing has also been a long-standing and very popular activity although current warnings advise people not to eat their catch which can include catfish, carp and eel. Environmental education on the river and its habitat is considered to be an important aspect to healing the river ecosystem. At the Matthew Henson Centre, a restored pumphouse on the Anacostia River, members of the Earth Conservation Corps learn about the local ecology and wildlife, and work on all aspects of habitat restoration: removing debris, placing booms to contain combined sewer overflow, planting trees and gardens and educating the community about the environment. The Corps has built the first ‘green’ roof in the city and is currently constructing three demonstration segments of the Anacostia Riverwalk and Trail. Since 1989 they have provided hundreds of unemployed, out of school youth aged between 17 and 25 with hands-on environmental training, career skills and leadership development training while restoring the Anacostia River. The Anacostia Watershed Society are also concerned about the environmental needs of the Anacostia River and its watershed. Since 1989, they have mobilized thousands of volunteers and supporters to plant trees, stencil storm drains, restore wetlands, pick up trash, write letters, make phone calls, paddle canoes and kayaks, ride pontoon boats, participate in rallies, hike, bike and walk, remove invasive plants, stabilize stream banks, watch slideshows, visit local landmarks, row, and much, much more, all in the name of returning the Anacostia River and its surrounding communities to a clean and healthy condition.