Anacostia in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Civil War Defenses of Washington
—1861 – 1865 —
Earthworks of Fort Stanton are visible in the wooded area 200 yards in front of you.
Fort Stanton from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers drawing.
Fort Stanton was named for Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, was the first fort constructed beyond the Anacostia River.
Other Civil War fort locations administered by the National Park Service.
Period photograph of artillerists at an unspecified battery belonging to the Civil War Defenses of Washington: During the Civil War, Washington’s forts overlooked farm land.
Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Location. 38° 51.491′ N, 76° 58.977′ W. Marker is in Anacostia, District of Columbia, in Washington. Marker can be reached from Morris Road, SE north of Morris Rd/Elvans Street, SE. Touch for map. Marker is south of the Fort Stanton works in a cleared field shown on road maps as the Wilkinson Recreation Center - off the northwest corner of the west parking lot for Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church. It is accessible via the church's driveway which is identified as "private property". Marker is at or near this postal address: 1600/1604 Morris Rd., SE, Washington DC 20020, United States of America.
Other nearby markers. Thurgood Marshall (approx. 0.3 miles away); The Growlery (approx. 0.3 miles away); Frederick Douglass National Historic Site (approx. 0.4 miles away); Battery Ricketts (approx. 0.4 miles away); The Sage of Anacostia (approx. 0.4 miles away); Uniontown, DC's First Suburb (approx. half a mile away); Mother Churches and Their Daughters (approx. half a mile away); Crossing Lines (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Anacostia.
Also see . . .
1. Fort Stanton, Washington, DC. ... Not all the land that made up the site of Fort Stanton was converted to public park land. In 1920, local African-American Catholics constructed Our Lady of Perpetual Help church on land formerly owned by Dr. J.C. Norwood, a local physician. After the remaining grounds of the fort were purchased in 1925, nearby residents reportedly "walked family cows to Fort Stanton Park to graze before the school bell rang." Today, the church still stands adjacent to the grounds of the park. The Washington D.C. Department of Parks and National Parks Service jointly manage the 67 acres of park land that stand on the site of the fort today. D.C. authorities manage approximately 11 acres that contain a recreation center and ball fields, while the National Parks Service manages the remaining (Submitted on August 29, 2011, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland.)
2. Mr. Lincoln's White House: Edwin M. Stanton. (Submitted on August 29, 2011, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland.)
3. Contraband: Former Slaves in the Capital during and after the Civil War. (Submitted on August 29, 2011, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland.)
Additional keywords. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church; Fort Stanton, Anacostia.
Categories. • African Americans • Forts, Castles • Notable Places • War, US Civil •
Credits. This page was last revised on February 6, 2018. This page originally submitted on August 29, 2011, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. This page has been viewed 855 times since then and 56 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on August 29, 2011, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. 5. submitted on February 2, 2018, by Devry Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page.