Rawlins Park

Washington, D.C.'s Rawlins Park is located at 18th & E Streets, in the Northwest quadrant of the nation's capital. It is a patch of welcome green in the middle of the concrete jungle, and sits across from the Department of the Interior's Foggy Bottom headquarters.

For whom it was named

Rawlins Park is so named for Major General John A. Rawlins, who served as Ulysses S. Grant's aide-de-camp and primary logistics man throughout the Civil War. Rawlins initially met Grant while practicing law in Illinois. When Grant was elected President, Rawlins was named Secretary of War and held the position for a brief time before his death from tuberculosis.

Statuary movements

A bronze statue of General John Rawlins stands at the entrance to Rawlins Park, sculpted by Philadelphia artist John Bailly. The bronze was created in 1872 and placed at its current location, but a veterans group asked to move it after seeing the park's state of disrepair. The Rawlins statue spent time at two other intersections in the District of Columbia before returning in 1886.

Real magnolias, lovely lilies

In early spring, a stroll along Rawlins Park's walkways makes one forget the surrounding city. The magnolias are in full bloom, and the first pink and white leaves to fall drift into the reflecting pool. In summer, the water lilies cover the pool's surface.

Stop by Rawlins Park for a moment of peace from the fast paced city surrounding this little ocean of flowers and greenery. Commune with one of the unknown heroes of the Civil War and his impressive bronze beard.