| Theodore Roosevelt Island National Memorial | |
|---|---|
 17-foot Centerpiece Statue | |
  Location within Washington, D.C.  Theodore Roosevelt Island (the United States) | |
| Location | The Potomac River in Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Coordinates | 38°53′50″N 77°3′51″W / 38.89722°N 77.06417°W |
| Area | 88.5 acres (35.8 ha) |
| Max. elevation | 44 feet (13 m) |
| Established | May 21, 1932 |
| Visitors | 160,000 (in 2015 [1]) |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | Theodore Roosevelt Island |
Theodore Roosevelt Island is an 88.5-acre (358,000 m2) island and national memorial located in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.[2][3] During the Civil War, it was used as a training camp for the United States Colored Troops. The island was given to the federal government by the Theodore Roosevelt Association in memory of the 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt. Until then, the island had been known as My Lord's Island, Barbadoes Island, Mason's Island, Analostan Island, and Anacostine Island.[4]
The island is maintained by the National Park Service, as part of the nearby George Washington Memorial Parkway.[3] The land is generally maintained as a natural park, with various trails and a memorial plaza featuring a statue of Roosevelt. No cars or bicycles are permitted on the island, which is reached by a footbridge from Arlington, Virginia, on the western bank of the Potomac.
According to the National Park Service: "In the 1930s landscape architects transformed Mason’s Island from neglected, overgrown farmland into Theodore Roosevelt Island, a memorial to America’s 26th president. They conceived a 'real forest' designed to mimic the natural forest that once covered the island. Today miles of trails through wooded uplands and swampy bottomlands honor the legacy of a great outdoorsman and conservationist."[5]
A small island, Little Island, lies just off the southern tip; Georgetown and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are respectively across the main channel of the Potomac to the north and the east.
- ^ "New nonprofit aims to boost visitorship at Theodore Roosevelt Island". 9 March 2016.
- ^ National Park Service. "Listing of area as of 09/30/2005" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 14, 2006. Retrieved May 5, 2006.
- ^ a b "Theodore Roosevelt Island". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
- ^ "Theodore Roosevelt Island". U.S. Geographic Survey: Geographic Names Information System. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
- ^ "Theodore Roosevelt Island (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2016-02-29.