Clara Barton House in Glen Echo, Maryland

PARK AT A GLANCE

Clara Barton National Historic Site preserves the house owned by Barton 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 that she had helped create a decade earlier. When trolley service finally came to Glen Echo in 1897, 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. It was the first park dedicated to a woman.

OPERATING HOURS

The Clara Barton House is open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 1 PM to 5 PM. Tours of the first floor of the house are given at 1 PM, 2 PM, 3 PM, and 4 PM. Keep in mind that times can always change, so before making travel plans be sure to get the latest schedule on the official National Park Service Things To Do web page for Clara Barton National Historic Site.

FEES

There is no fee to visit Clara Barton National Historic Site.

SCHEDULING YOUR TIME

Clara Barton National Historic Site is one of the less involving National Parks. There are no house grounds to speak of and no hiking trails, so the only activity is the 45-minute House Tour. The site shares a parking lot with Glen Echo Park, another unit of the National Park system, and you can visit it in 1-2 hours, making it possible to see both parks in a short afternoon.

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