One of the Lily Ponds at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

Coming here in the 1800s, Civil War Veteran Walter Shaw found the wetlands were a good place to build his water garden. By building the paths that separate ponds from the tidal marsh, Shaw built a garden that was both peaceful and profitable. His daughter, Helen, later become an ambassador for water gardening and the Shaw Gardens. It was Helen who successfully lobbied Congress to save the gardens from dredge operations in the Anacostia River, and in doing so saved a section of the original marsh.

The photograph is one of several in the collection documenting the beauty and appearance of the gardens at the time it was owned by the Shaw family.