by Denise D. Meringolo

In the spring of 2005, on the eve of its 50th anniversary, the Accokeek Foundation—one of the nation’s oldest land trusts—was working to articulate its specific role as steward, with other stakeholders, of a complex cultural landscape along six miles of riverfront in Prince George’s County, Maryland.(2) The property, approximately 11 miles from the District of Columbia line and directly across the Potomac River from George Washington’s historic home, Mount Vernon, is jointly managed by the Moyaone Reserve (an environmentally conscious planned community), Piscataway Park (a unit of the National Park Service), and the foundation. The fields, trails, shoreline, and interpretive areas of Piscataway Park were shaped, not only by historical and environmental forces, but also by evolving relationships among the National Park Service, the Moyaone Reserve, environmental advocacy groups, historic site managers, farmland preservation groups, and others. The Accokeek Foundation was looking for ways to integrate multiple views and valuations of the landscape into a new vision to guide its mission.

The foundation’s complex purpose was rendered somewhat invisible to most casual visitors, because the effort leading up to the founding of Piscataway Park magnified the importance of one very powerful view. By protecting the woods, fields, and watershed on the Maryland side of the Potomac River, Piscataway Park preserves the historic view from former President George Washington’s Mount Vernon. National Park Service evaluations of the site tended to note its historical, architectural, natural, and archeological features, while at the same time downplaying the importance of those features to emphasize the park’s role in preserving historically significant scenery. The National Register of Historic Places nomination form, for example, completed in 1979, noted that—

Piscataway Park is principally significant for its role in maintaining the vista across the Potomac River from Mount Vernon. As the only unit of the National Park System established specifically to protect the environment of a privately owned historic property, it is secondarily important as a new departure in the recent history of Federal conservation activity. The park itself is not significant for particular on-site landmarks or features excepting the separately nominated features referenced in section 7 [the Accokeek Creek site and Marshall Hall]; its value derives from its general scenic character as viewed from across the Potomac.(3)

The significance of the view across the river is not contrived: It is thoroughly documented that Washington loved his view of the Maryland shore. During a major renovation of the main house in 1774, he built a two-story piazza overlooking the river. Numerous guests to the mansion recorded their appreciation of the view. The American architect Benjamin Latrobe sketched the scene. The topographical writer Isaac Weld wrote of his visit in the mid-1790s, “The Maryland shore, on the opposite side, is beautifully diversified with hills, which are mostly covered with woods; in many places, however, little patches of cultivated ground appear, ornamented with houses. The scenery altogether is most delightful.”(4) Significantly, Latrobe and Weld captured the scenic and aesthetic aspects of the view, including the houses and fields visible from Mount Vernon. The undeniable attractiveness of the landscape proved a valuable rallying point for galvanizing diverse groups and individuals around the common purpose of protecting the area from potentially unsightly development.

Most successful national parks and historic sites balance the interests of multiple stakeholders on constantly shifting ground. While it is often necessary to create strategic alliances to achieve some political purpose, the creation of common ground—whether intellectual or physical—carries a profound sense of authority that can unintentionally obscure the complexity of the past, limiting both the educational potential and social value of public space. This essay seeks to broaden perspectives about the meaning of nature, agriculture, and community in and around Piscataway Park by focusing on the Maryland shore itself. It examines the ways different communities valued the landscape—ways that George Washington and his peers could not have seen.

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