Fort Washington Park

Fort Washington Park occupies a commanding height above the Potomac on Maryland’s shore and for many years was the capital’s only river defense. The site had long been valued for its strategic position, first by the Piscataway people and later as colonial Warburton Manor. At George Washington’s urging, a permanent fort was begun in 1808 and completed in 1809, but that first work failed its test in the War of 1812 when the garrison abandoned and destroyed it as British forces advanced. Rebuilt by 1824 and later modernized, the fort eventually gave way to peacetime decline and in 1946 became part of the National Park System.

Fort Washington, Maryland · United States