From "A Historic Resource Study - Rock Creek Park" published by William Bushong in 1990;
To varying degrees early intrusions into the park influenced site
selections for early sports facilities. In 1900 the D. C. Water Department
obtained Congressional authorization for the construction of the Brightwood
Reservoir, located on a site occupied today by the Rock Creek Tennis Stadium,
tennis courts, and ballfields between Morrow Drive and Carter Barron
Theater. The Board of Control opposed this action, but presented with what
appeared to be the inevitable enactment by Congress of legislation
authorizing the siting of the reservoir in the park, they negotiated a land
exchange compromise with the bills' proponents. The Board surrendered use of
parkland to the Water Department in exchange for the citys' purchase of
private land on the eastern boundary of the park. The resulting agreement
gave the Water Department its reservoir and a site it desired and the Board
was able to rectify a section of the boundary along Sixteenth Street. *03
As a result of the installation of the reservoir, this area of the park was
considered an acceptable site for recreational facilities. In 1907 a nine-hole
golfcourse was laid out adjacent to the Brightwood Reservoir. It was hoped
that enthusiasm for the sport would generate the purchase of additional
private acreage adjoining the park on the west side of Sixteenth Street to
expand the course to eighteen holes. 104 a 1909 newspaper account concerning
the potential construction of a clubhouse for the golfcourse indicated that a
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potential site would be near the intersection of Blagden Avenue and Sixteenth
Street south of the reservoir. I"* A lack of funds evidently stymied these
plans. A nine-hole golfcourse was laid out and grass seed planted, but neither
the course or clubhouse went beyond this initial planning phase. However, the
work of clearing the land was not wasted because in 1916 playing fields, a
large picnic area, shelters, and tennis courts were built adjacent to the
reservoir. By the 1930s the Brightwood Reservoir had become obsolete when
new reservoirs were built in outlying areas of the city near Great Falls. The
Civilian Conservation Corps infilled the reservoir in 1937, but the pattern of
active recreational development in the area has been continued into modern
times.
A notable intrusion to the park's natural character in 1911 was the
establishment of an arboretum for experimental tree planting along Rock
Creek to the north, south and east of Camp Goodwill by the U. S. Forest
Service. A cooperative agreement was reached between the Board and the
Forest Service to allow the federal agency to use the site primarily for
experiments in the hybridization of willow trees. However, by 1914 seventy
species had been introduced into this section of the park representing every
region in the United States. Some of these trees, particularly the California
Redwoods, did not survive. By 1920 2,000 trees of 170 species were being
cultivated in the park. There was a movement in the late 1910s to formalize
this arrangement with the establishment of a permanent arboretum and the
addition of a botanical garden. 106 Th e u. S. Commission of Fine Arts, which
had been requested by Congress to review potential sites for the relocation of
the Mall botanical gardens in 1916, strongly opposed any plan that would use
Rock Creek Park for this purpose. 107 Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. quoted the
commission's report at length in his 1918 planning study for Rock Creek Park.
He emphasized the point that the establishment of the arboretum in the park
had been a grave mistake that threatened to destroy the natural beauty of the
landscape if it was continued and expanded. In 1920 the experiment was
discontinued. Within a year Colonel Sherrill began planning a new use for the
area and ordered the start of construction of fairways for the Rock Creek golf
course.
During the planning phase for the golf course, former President
Woodrow Wilson wrote Sherrill to lodge a strong objection to its construction
in the park:
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Is it possible that it is true that a golf course is to be laid out in Rock
Creek Park? I am loath to believe that such an unforgivable piece of
vandalism is even in contemplation, and therefore beg leave to enter
my earnest and emphatic protest. That park is the most beautiful in
the United States, and to mar its natural beauty for the sake of sport
would be to do an irretrievable thing which subsequent criticism and
regret could never repair. 10°
Concerned by the tone of the letter but remaining firm in his belief that the golf
course was an appropriate addition to this section of the park, Sherrill
immediately wrote to request the support from his superior officer, Chief of
Engineers Major General Lansing H. Beach, who had been so instrumental in
Rock Creek Park's early development. The Colonel asked Beach to request a
small appropriation from Congress to begin construction of the golf course. He
feared that any effort to establish the facility without specific authority from
Congress might create "so much hostility among members of Congress as to
jeapardize any future hope of securing funds to make a really first-class golf
course." 10°
Sherrill responded to the former president in an evasive fashion and did
not admit that the plans were already in the works. He diplomatically
explained that the land considered for use in the park as the golf course had
been cleared of trees before its purchase by the government and was
inaccessible to the public. He described the tract as "overgrown with brambles
and poison ivy as to be entirely worthless."* 10 Th e Colonel also assured
Wilson that a "golf course could be so constructed as not to affect the natural
beauty of the tract while its use for this purpose is not apt to mar the
appearance as much as constantly occurs at every picnic ground." 1 1 1 Wilson
was apparently satisified by the response and through his secretary conveyed
his relief regarding the choice of the site for the proposed golf course. 1 12
In October, 1921, the rough outline for the fairways of a nine-hole golf
course were laid out by landscape architect Irving W. Payne under the
authority of Colonel Sherrill.l 13 In January, 1922, Colonel Sherrill requested
and obtained the services of golf course architect William S. Flynn of Ardmore,
Pennsylvania.! 14 Flynn was a leader in the field of golf course design at this
time and today is considered an American master of golf course architecture.
His masterpiece was the revision of the course at Shinnecock Hills on Long
Island, New York, but his courses at Spring Mill and Rolling Hills, both
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outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are also highly regarded. H5 Flynn
worked as a consultant on the design of Rock Creek golf course and spent two
days going over the ground to locate the tees and greens. The final course
design, apparently incorporating Flynn' s verbal suggestions, was prepared by
Payne. The first nine holes of the Rock Creek golf course opened in 1923 with a
remodeled farmhouse as its clubhouse. 1 *" A second nine-hole course was laid
out and opened by 1927. The immediate popularity of the course was reflected
by the fact that more than 75,000 golfers played the course in that year.H?
The facility remains a popular recreational attraction in the park and has been
in continuous operation since 1923.