Encyclopaedia of Tiny Facts

Located in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Glen Echo, Maryland, Glen Echo Park thrived through 1968, when it promptly closed; with a history dating back to the late 19th century, the amusement park’s highlights included a carousel, bumper cars, and the Crystal Pool; Glen Echo Park’s extinction was due to pressure from local white citizens, who preferred that the park close rather than racially integrate; for the majority of its existence, Glen Echo Park was a whites-only establishment; the greater Washington D.C. area has a rich tradition of both politics and racism, and if you would like a firsthand view, plan an afternoon walk from the White House to Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in the historic neighborhood of Anacostia; after departing the President’s home, take note of the staggering segregation when you arrive in the almost exclusively African-American Anacostia; while there is an upsetting level of poverty and violence in Anacostia, the neighborhood also has a vibrant cultural history, which is spotlighted at the Anacostia Community Museum; former residents of Anacostia include Frederick Douglass, Marvin Gaye, and Ezra Pound; in 1971, the abandoned and decaying Glen Echo Park became property of the National Park Service; the park is now used for cultural events, such as painting, glass blowing, and Contra and Square Dancing; Glen Echo Park has maintained a ramshackle, forgotten appearance, and evokes the feeling of a magical Ray Bradbury or Steven Millhauser story; if there was a remake of the terrifying, bizarre 1962 film, “Carnival of Souls,” Glen Echo Park would be a fine setting; I have no idea who would play the haunted, mysterious lead that was definitively embodied by Candace Hilligoss; Candace Hilligoss was the greatest horror film actress ever, and it is a shame that her career was so brief; say the name “Candace Hilligoss” out loud ten times, and you will believe you have conjured a demon—a Waspy demon; during my junior year in college, I had my heart broken, and while I deserved to have my heart broken, it still incapacitated me for several months; in an effort to get over the breakup, I spent Spring break driving down the east coast of the United States with two of my best friends; we planned to tour the South and smoke a lot of pot; we wanted “adventures”; we found an unplanned and traumatic adventure in Memphis, but several days before that disaster, we spent a night in Bethesda, Maryland; residents of Bethesda are proud to have the National Institutes of Health and the highest percentage of restaurants-per-capita in the United States; Bethesda is also the home of a pixyish brunette who hosted us while in Bethesda; we got tipsy with her, watched “Buena Vista Social Club,” then she took us to Glen Echo Park; it was late, the moon was full, and we were trespassing; we smoked and boozed and ran around the ancient wooden and metal amusement park rides, which seemed like frozen dinosaurs from the future; the Pixie dragged me by the wrist to the Bumper Car Pavilion, where she wordlessly held me close; she seemed to know without any explanation that I was confused and self-pitying and lonely; when we left the Pixie the next day, she kissed me and asked me to call her from the road; I did, and soon we began to date, spending time together in New England and England; it was a full eight months before our relationship fell apart; now she lives across the planet and writes for a Cambodian newspaper; I hear that she learned to ride across rivers on Thai elephants; her family still lives in Bethesda, and I imagine she visits them during certain Jewish holidays.

~ by tinyfacts on August 5, 2008.

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Tags: 1962, 1968, African-American, amusement park, Anacostia, Anacostia Community Museum, Bethesda, Buena Vista Social Club, Bumper Car Pavilion, Cambodian, Candace Hilligoss, Carnival of Souls, Contra, Crystal Pool, D.C., elephants, Ezra Pound, Frederick Douglass, Glen Echo, Glen Echo Park, Jewish, Martin Luther King Jr., Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Marvin Gaye, Maryland, National Institutes of Health, National Park Service, NIH, racism, Ray Bradbury, Square Dancing, Steven Millhauser, Thai, United States, Washington, Washington D.C., WASP, Waspy, White House, whites-only