Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens - View this location on map This unique feature of Washington's park system holds important collections of water plants, fish, reptiles, and amphibians; associated with the botanical study and development of water plants; site of early experiments in hybridization; purchased as farm after Civil War by W.B. Shaw, war veteran and civil servant; operated as commercial operation (Shaw Gardens) by Shaw and daughter Helen Shaw Fowler from 1882 to 1938; purchased by National Park Service in 1938; 9-acre gardens include water lilies and other species in series of irregular ponds, dikes, and marshes on the Anacostia River floodplain; also includes board-and-batten Administration Building, built 1912, and two greenhouses built 1913 Anacostia Avenue and Douglas Street, NE, Washington , DC Historical

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