National Park Seminary
The site that is now the National Park Seminary Historic District was
originally a wooded glen and tobacco plantation. It was developed in
1887 as a resort hotel designed by the noted Washington architect T. F.
Schneider and known as Ye Forest Inne. When the hotel proved to be
unsuccessful, John and Vesta Cassedy rented and later purchased the
property to create, in 1894, National Park Seminary, a finishing school
for young women.
The Cassedys believed that art and culture should be integral to the
new school's curriculum and they used architecture, landscaping,
sculpture, painting, and stained glass to create a uniquely beautiful
educational environment.
The Seminary was purchased in 1916 by Dr. James E. Ament, who expanded
the campus, added and enlarged buildings, created a network of walkways
to connect and unify the campus, and, in 1927, built Ament Hall with
its imposing grand ballroom. Dr. Roy Tasco Davis bought the school in
1937 and, when the Great Depression caused a sharp decline in students,
he introduced a business-oriented curriculum and renamed the school
National Park College.
Following the outbreak of World War II, Dr. Davis was required by the
War Powers Act to sell the Seminary to the U. S. Army. The Seminary
became an annex to the Walter Reed Army Hospital and it served as a
rehabilitation and convalescent center for soldiers wounded in World
War II, the Korean Conflict, and the Viet Nam War. After patient care
was discontinued at the Seminary, the property continued to be used for
medical research, military housing, and administrative purposes. Over
the years, the buildings and grounds declined from inadequate
maintenance, the army tore down or altered several Seminary buildings,
and painted or covered over much of the decorative woodwork that graced
the original interiors. When army officials began to discuss tearing
down more of the historic buildings to make room for modern structures,
the Maryland
Historic Trust sought to protect the most historic part of
the site by securing its listing in 1972 on the National Register of
Historic Places as the National Park Seminary Historic
District.
Because of the efforts of Save Our Seminary and its supporters, the
army decided in 2001 that the historic district and an adjacent tract
were excess to its needs. In October 2004, the excess property was
transferred through Montgomery County to a partnership of The Alexander Company,
a development company with an excellent record of adapting historic
properties to new uses, and EYA,
an award winning developer of new homes in established neighborhoods.
Their plan to save all of the historic buildings, to add new townhouses
in compatible styles, and to transform the Seminary into a unique
residential community of apartments, condominiums, and single-family
homes has been approved by local planning and historic preservation
agencies and is now being carried out. A permanent preservation
easement will protect the historic district and assure public access to
it.
For more on the Seminary's history, see www.operant.com/seminary.