National Park Seminary

The main structure of what is now the National Park Seminary was built as a resort for Washington residents in 1887. In 1894, the building was converted into a girls’ finishing school, and it remained that until the Army took the site over in 1942 for use as a rehabilitative facility for returning amputees.

During the years it functioned as a school, the site underwent a building program that brought a wide variety of architectural styles to the campus including a Japanese Pagoda, Dutch Windmill, Greek Temple, English Garden Castle, and an Italian Villa.

The Army left most of site vacant in 1978 in favor of more modern facilities and dilapidation and vandalism began to take their toll on the campus. Rampant water damage led to the near collapse of several buildings. After a nationwide search, The Alexander Company was chosen by Montgomery County, Maryland, to develop the site in 2003.

As part of the development, the glen at National Park Seminary was cleared of invasive species and interpretive walking trails were placed throughout, encouraging activity throughout the site by the surrounding neighborhood as well as the new residents of National Park Seminary.