Editing Rock Creek Park (section)

== History ==
[[File:Rock-Creek-Park.jpg|thumb|270px|upright|left|[[Rock Creek (Potomac River)|Rock Creek]]]]

Rock Creek Park was established by an act of [[Congress of the United States|Congress]] signed into law by President [[Benjamin Harrison]] on September 27, 1890, following advocacy by [[Charles C. Glover]] and other civic leaders and in the wake of the creation of the [[National Zoological Park (United States)|National Zoo]] the preceding year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Administrative History-Success - Rock Creek Park (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/rocr/learn/historyculture/adhi1b.htm |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref> 
 
It was only the third national park established by the U.S., following [[Yellowstone National Park|Yellowstone]] in 1872 and [[Mackinac National Park]] in 1875. [[Sequoia National Park|Sequoia]] was created at the same time, and [[Yosemite National Park|Yosemite]] shortly thereafter. In 1933, Rock Creek Park became part of the newly formed [[National Capital Parks]] unit of the [[National Park Service]].

The Rock Creek Park Act authorized the purchase of no more than {{convert|2000|acre}} of land, extending north from Klingle Ford Bridge in the District of Columbia (approximately the northern limit of the [[National Zoological Park (United States)|National Zoo]]), to be "perpetually dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasure ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people of the United States".<ref name=LRIP>NPS (March 2010). [http://www.nps.gov/hfc/pdf/ip/2010-05-07-RockCreekLRIP-FinalDocument.pdf "Rock Creek Park Long Range Interpretive Plan."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115003340/https://www.nps.gov/hfc/pdf/ip/2010-05-07-RockCreekLRIP-FinalDocument.pdf |date=November 15, 2016 }}</ref> The Act also called for regulations to "provide for the preservation from injury or spoliation of all timber, animals, or curiosities within said park, and their retention in their natural condition, as nearly as possible".<ref>NPS (1985). [http://www.nps.gov/rocr/learn/historyculture/adhi1b.htm "Success."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115081430/https://www.nps.gov/rocr/learn/historyculture/adhi1b.htm |date=November 15, 2016 }} ''An Administrative History, Rock Creek Park.''</ref> Rock Creek Park is the oldest natural urban park in the National Park System.<ref name=post>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/lifestyle/magazine/rock-creek/ "Our Wild Heart – A Tribute to Rock Creek Park"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009172941/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/lifestyle/magazine/rock-creek/ |date=October 9, 2017 }}, Washington Post, July 11, 2014</ref> Park construction began in 1897.<ref name="adminhist2"/>

In 1913, Congress authorized creation of the [[Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway]] and extended the park along a narrow corridor from the zoo to the mouth of Rock Creek at the [[Potomac River]].<ref name="adminhist3">NPS (2004). [http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/rocr/adhi/adhi3.htm "Parkway and Other Additions."] ''Rock Creek Park: An Administrative History.''</ref> The parkway remains a major traffic thoroughfare, especially along the portion south of the zoo. 

The park's golf course, designed by [[William Flynn (golfer)|William Flynn]], was opened with nine holes in 1923 and expanded three years later to 18.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stark |first=Cortlynn |date=2019-07-26 |title=For lease: Three historic public golf courses in the nation's capital that need millions in repairs |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/for-lease-three-historic-public-golf-courses-in-the-nations-capital-that-need-millions-in-repairs/2019/07/26/845cf086-a89b-11e9-86dd-d7f0e60391e9_story.html |access-date=2023-10-27 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=January 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113235545/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/for-lease-three-historic-public-golf-courses-in-the-nations-capital-that-need-millions-in-repairs/2019/07/26/845cf086-a89b-11e9-86dd-d7f0e60391e9_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Like the rest of the city's public courses, it was [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregated]] until 1941, when U.S. Secretary of the Interior [[Harold L. Ickes|Harold Ickes]] ordered them all opened to African Americans.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-02 |title=Golf and Civil Rights in Washington, D.C. |url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/578a1067d5014a25a8e9a0f9e30a2c21 |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=ArcGIS StoryMaps |language=en-us |archive-date=October 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027032243/https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/578a1067d5014a25a8e9a0f9e30a2c21 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the 1980s, hundreds of stones removed from the [[United States Capitol]] during a renovation were stored in the park. The loose pile, two stories high, was a popular, if unmarked and unsanctioned, attraction, and their removal in 2022 drew local<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=Wexler |first2=Ellen |date=August 16, 2022 |title=Is This the End of D.C.'s Most-Beloved Hidden Landmark? |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/end-of-capitol-stones-washington-dc-hidden-landmark-180980588/ |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en |archive-date=August 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817154122/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/end-of-capitol-stones-washington-dc-hidden-landmark-180980588/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Old Capitol Stones Hidden Away In Rock Creek Park Are Being Moved |url=https://dcist.com/story/22/08/09/old-capitol-stones-will-move-from-rock-creek-park/ |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=DCist |language=en |archive-date=October 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027012611/https://dcist.com/story/22/08/09/old-capitol-stones-will-move-from-rock-creek-park/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and even national<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chung |first=Christine |date=2022-08-25 |title=These Stones Graced the Capitol. They May Soon Be Removed From a Park. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/25/us/capitol-stones-moved-storage.html |access-date=2023-10-27 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027012619/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/25/us/capitol-stones-moved-storage.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-08-09 |title=Old Capitol Stones to Be Stored Away After Decades in Park (1) |url=https://about.bgov.com/news/old-capitol-stones-to-be-stored-away-after-decades-piled-in-park/ |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=Bloomberg Government |language=en-US |archive-date=October 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027012611/https://about.bgov.com/news/old-capitol-stones-to-be-stored-away-after-decades-piled-in-park/ |url-status=live }}</ref> attention.

By the late 1990s, a popular conception had arisen that the park was unsafe. This persisted despite crime data, provided by D.C. police and park officials, that showed that the park saw fewer crimes than surrounding neighborhoods. The misperception was fed by the 2002 discovery in the park of the skeletal remains of [[Killing of Chandra Levy|Chandra Levy]], a federal intern whose disappearance had attracted national media attention.<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|date=May 23, 2002|title=Remains in D.C. Park Identified as Intern's|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-may-23-na-chandra23-story.html|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|location=Los Angeles|access-date=September 22, 2016|archive-date=September 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923045456/http://articles.latimes.com/2002/may/23/nation/na-chandra23|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Zenzen |first=Joan M. |date=October 2020 |title=An Urban Oasis: Rock Creek Park's History and Management |url=http://npshistory.com/publications/rocr/adhi-2020.pdf |website=National Park Service |access-date=October 27, 2023 |archive-date=October 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019144055/http://npshistory.com/publications/rocr/adhi-2020.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Einberger |first=Scott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZ-ACQAAQBAJ&dq=chandra+levy+Einberger%27s+%22A+History+of+Rock+Creek+Park&pg=PT187 |title=A History of Rock Creek Park: Wilderness & Washington, D.C. |date=2014-07-15 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-1-62585-109-3 |language=en |access-date=October 30, 2023 |archive-date=February 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227164319/https://books.google.com/books?id=oZ-ACQAAQBAJ&dq=chandra+levy+Einberger%27s+%22A+History+of+Rock+Creek+Park&pg=PT187#v=onepage&q=chandra%20levy%20Einberger's%20%22A%20History%20of%20Rock%20Creek%20Park&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>