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Photo by Albert G. R^lilnson 



IN ROCK cre;e;k park 



"To Rock Creek there is nothing comparable in any capital city of Europe. What capital 

 city in the world is there where, within ... a quarter of an hour on his own feet, one 

 can get in a beautiful rocky glen, such as you would in the woods of Maine or Scotland, 

 . . . where j'ou not only have carriage roads, but an inexhaustible variety of foot-paths ?" — 

 James Bryce. 



the Columbus statue and fountain in the 

 plaza before the Union Station and the 

 appropriation of the land between the 

 station and the Senate Building and the 

 Capitol, so as to make that all an open 

 park, is an accomplishment the diffi- 

 culties of which are rapidly being for- 

 gotten, but which at the time seemed well- 

 nigh insurmountable. The House and 

 Senate Office buildings fill important 

 links in the plans for Capitol Hill ; the 

 removal of the Botanical Gardens and 

 the consequent improvement of the lower 

 end of the Mall has been provided for; 

 the National Museum and the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture buildings have been 

 located in accordance with the Park 

 Commission's recommendations ; the Bu- 

 reau of Engraving and Printing has been 

 fitted into the general scheme ; Potomac 



Island and Potomac Park are coming to 

 be dreams realized ; the Lincoln Me- 

 morial is now taking physical shape ; the 

 buildings on the west side of Seventeenth 

 street, facing the White Lot, have all 

 been erected but one, and that one is 

 under construction ; the ground on the 

 east side of Fifteenth street, facing the 

 same park, has been acquired. 



And so it happens that, except for a 

 few departures, Avhich will stand as ob- 

 ject lessons to prevent others, there has 

 been a consistent adherence to the well- 

 considered recommendations of the Park 

 Commission. 



the; ptne arts commission 



In 1910 Congress proA'ided for a per- 

 manent Commission of Fine Arts, to be 

 composed of seven or more qualified 



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