Complete information about visiting the Clara Barton National Historic Site is now on National Park Planner!
The Clara Barton National Historic Site is one of the less involving National Parks. All there is to do is tour the house that Barton owned from 1891 until her death in 1912. The house was given to her by Edward and Edwin Baltzley, two brothers who were developing real estate at Glen Echo. To promote the development, they felt that if they could get some celebrities to move in, the rest of Washington high society would follow. At the time there was no trolley service to the area and Barton felt that it was much too isolated, so she used the house as a warehouse for the American Red Cross, which she had helped create a decade earlier. Later, in 1897 when trolley service did come to Glen Echo, Barton moved in and used the house as her residence, and up until 1904, as the Red Cross’s first headquarters. The house became part of the National Park system in 1975 and was the first park dedicated to a woman.
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Last updated on November 4, 2025
