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T
heodore Roosevelt wrote about the park in his autobiography: “When our children were little … each
Sunday afternoon the whole family spent in Rock Creek
Park, which was then very real country indeed.”
Both Roosevelts made Rock Creek
history — while for other 20th century
Presidents, the park was a place for
courting, golfing, riding and politicking.
He also led frequent hikes with friends and soldiers: “Often … we would arrange for a point to
point walk, not turning aside for anything…. We like Rock Creek for these walks because we
could do so much scrambling and climbing along the cliffs.” One of his regular companions was
French ambassador Jean Jules Jusserand, who was honored with his own memorial in 1936.
Teddy is often credited with naming Boulder Bridge. After
losing a gold ring on an outing in 1902, the President
placed a “Lost and Found” ad claiming the ring went
missing “100 yards above boulder bridge.” Today’s park
visitors hike nearby along the Theodore Roosevelt side trail.
Other stories about TR focus on his adventures skinnydipping in Rock Creek and riding horses through the park.
The President took a nasty fall in 1908 when his mount
became frightened on the Broad Branch ford. Jumping
from the saddle, he landed in the water “completely
clear of the horse, and to that circumstance he probably
owes his life.” (Washington Post, 6/4/1908).
Sometimes Teddy was accompanied by his Secretary of
War (and future President) William Howard Taft. Taft took
delight in the Rock Creek wilderness, making frequent
jaunts into the park during his long Washington career. The Connecticut
C
ti t
Avenue Bridge was renamed in his honor in 1931. “Taft was a keen admirer
of the structure,” the Evening Star reported (4/9/1931). “He was often seen
crossing it on foot in the course of his rambles about the Rock Creek Valley.”
The Park Gets a New Deal
Theodore Roosevelt leading
50 Army officers on a trek through
Rock Creek Park in 1908. The
Baltimore Sun article describes TR
wading waist-deep in the creek and
tearing through brambles before
conquering a 60-foot bluff: “Catching at root and rock, the President
went at the face of the cliff, and the
chimpanzee in the Zoo across the
park instinctively felt that somebody was going him one better.”
Initiatives by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930s created much of the park infrastructure we see
today through New Deal agencies such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, Works Progress Administration
and Public Works Administration. Unemployed Americans were put to work building footbridges, paths and
horse trails; erecting the Park Police station and other buildings; planting trees and shrubs; renovating Peirce
Mill, Klingle Mansion and Fort Stevens; and helping to construct Piney Branch Parkway.
Rock Creek Park A to Z
U is for US Presidents
Beginning in 1941, FDR would also tour Rock Creek by car
with his long-time paramour Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd — but
only when Eleanor was out of town.
Wooing and Zooing
Woodrow Wilson enjoyed walks and drives in the park,
where he courted his second wife Edith in 1915. The
chauffeur would drop them off along Ross Drive and the
pair would stroll together through the woods. Shortly after
leaving office in 1921, Wilson wrote a letter protesting the
construction of the Rock Creek Golf Course. Nevertheless,
President Warren Harding would inaugurate the course in
1923, shooting 102. Three decades later, the White House
was occupied by avid golfer Dwight Eisenhower, who was
known to tee off at the links in Rock Creek Park.
The Coolidge family was so fond of animals that their White
House was sometimes called the Pennsylvania Avenue Zoo.
Many of the creatures ended up along Rock Creek at the
National Zoo, including a black bear, lion cubs and a
hippo. The Coolidges also adopted a pet raccoon they named
Rebecca — saving her from becoming part of a Thanksgiving
meal. She was sent to the zoo after several escapes from the
White House grounds.
Civilian Conservation
Corpsmen (above)
work on the ornamental dam at Peirce Mill
in 1936.
FDR, Eleanor Roosevelt and Mme.
Jusserand arrive in the
park (right) for the unveiling of a memorial
to Jean Jules Jusserand,
also in 1936.
Herbert Hoover lived up to the nickname “The Great Engineer”
during park visits. On family picnics by the creek, he would
recruit volunteers to help him construct miniature dams.
President Harry Truman attended the opening of the DC Sesquicentennial Amphitheatre in 1950, and returned in 1951
when it was dedicated to the late Carter Barron. Truman
would also purchase flour and meal from Peirce Mill for use
in the White House.
President Truman at Rock Creek’s outdoor amphitheatre in
1951 for its dedication to the late Carter Barron.
Though Jimmy Carter is said to have jogged in Rock Creek
valley, he was so new to the nation’s capital when he took office in 1977 that members of the press corps
joked “President Carter knows so little about Washington he thinks Rock Creek Park is a Korean lobbyist.”
Ronald Reagan occasionally rode horses on park trails and practiced horse jumping at the Equitation Field.
When he was first elected, several Secret Service agents received expedited training in Rock Creek Park so
they could protect him on horseback. Not all of the agents attained a suitable level of horsemanship.
Some of Bill Clinton’s jogging trips took him into the park, where he would stop to shake hands and sign
autographs. To promote Clean Water legislation in 1995, President Clinton used Peirce Mill as a backdrop,
pointing out signs by the creek that warned of poisons and pollutants: “To those who say we have nothing
more to do to clean up America’s waterways, I urge them to come here to Peirce Mill and read the sign. We
still have a lot of work to do on this, the most simple necessity of our lives, water.”
President Barack Obama also went politicking within the Rock Creek system, promoting his highway plan in
2014 with a speech at Georgetown Waterfront Park.
Newspaper images at top of previous page (L to R): Evening Star 5/26/1907, Washington Times 4/26/1917, Washington Post 6/4/1908,
Arizona Republican 8/11/1912; “The President in the Woods” (TR rock climbing, 1908) and FDR at Jusserand memorial (11/7/1936):
Library of Congress; “Led 50 on Wild Walk”: Baltimore Sun 11/8/1908; Trail sign: David Swerdloff; CCC crew (1936): National Park
Service; Truman at dedication of Carter Barron Amphitheatre: National Archives.
Rock Creek Park A to Z
U is for US Presidents