Fort Reno

At 409 feet above sea level, this site is the highest natural point in Washington, D.C. In 1861, the Union army built one of its largest and most heavily armed Civil War fortifications here, first called Fort Pennsylvania and later renamed for Major General Jesse L. Reno. As the center of Washington's northern defenses, Fort Reno commanded views over the surrounding countryside and the three major roads that met at Tenleytown: River Road, Rockville Road, and Brookville Road. With the attached Battery Reno, the military grounds covered more than 70 acres and included barracks, camps, and a parade ground. During the July 1864 Confederate raid on Washington, Fort Reno's signal tower first spotted the advancing troops, and its 100-pounder Parrott rifle fired 3.5 miles north, killing Confederate soldiers near the present-day Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. After the war, the army abandoned the fort, and by the late 1800s most traces of it had disappeared as reservoirs were created and residential development spread northward. South and west of the fort, African Americans, including some who had helped build Fort Reno and found refuge under its protection during the war, joined working-class white residents to form Reno City, a distinct but segregated neighborhood that was later demolished for Fort Reno Park. After a 2007 survey established the District's highest natural ground, the high point officially became known as Point Reno following a dedication ceremony in April 2008.

Washington, District of Columbia · United States