New heritage trail explores Tenleytown's past

Source: WTOP Radio

Author:  Michelle Basch

Link: http://www.wtop.com/?nid=596&sid=2108322

WASHINGTON - What do a tavern, a talking frog, and WTOP have in common? You can find out by taking a new self-guided walking tour back in time.

The Tenleytown Heritage Trail consists of 19 new sidewalk signs, loaded with facts and photos, installed at key locations around the Northwest D.C. neighborhood.

Tenleytown came to be because a tavern was built in the late 1700s near what is now the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and River Road, and a community built up around it.

Ever wonder about the unusually shaped building at Wisconsin and Albermarle Street? What is now Ace Hardware, Best Buy, and Container Store used to be a state-of-the-art Sears Department store. It opened in 1941, complete with parking and a snack bar on the roof.

Tenleytown's ties to broadcasting are long and strong. WTOP Radio and TV used to be located at Broadcast House at 40th and Brandywine Streets, which opened in 1953. One of the Kennedy-Nixon debates of 1960 was held at NBC's studios on Nebraska Avenue. And that same building is where Kermit the Frog launched his career in a show on WRC TV.

More fun facts:

Tenleytown's Fort Reno is the highest natural point in D.C. at 409 feet above sea level.

During World War Two, a building in the 3800 block of Nebraska Avenue is where thousands of people recruited by the Navy worked to break German and Japanese communications codes.

Tenleytown's oldest surviving house - called "the Rest" - is located at 39th Street and Windom Place. It dates to the early 1800s.

A celebration to officialy unveil the trail is planned for Saturday November 13 at the Fort Reno Bandstand, but you can walk it anytime.

To download a trail booklet and map loaded with interesting information and photos, click here (pdf).