Located about 9 miles (14 km) northwest of the city's downtown area, the park's site was initially developed in 1891 as a National Chautauqua Assembly.

The park is known for its Streamline Moderne architecture, an antique Dentzel carousel and its historic Spanish Ballroom, as well as for its children's theater and social dance programs.

Edwin and Edward Baltzley, writers,[3] inventors,[4] industrialists, and real estate developers,[5][6][7] hoped to build upon the banks of the Potomac River a suburban community free of the urban pollution of late 19th-century Washington.

[8] On February 24, 1891, the Baltzley twins incorporated the National Chautauqua of Glen Echo, the 53rd such assembly, and immediately set to building a stone citadel of culture to complement their real estate and resort enterprises.

[9] Opened on June 16, 1891,[10] their arts and culture program included lectures and concerts[11] in a 6,000-seat amphitheater;[10] special classes in Bible studies,[12] Greek, and Hebrew; physical training regimens;[13] and university extension courses.

Hundreds flocked to the site to picnic and to attend lectures on American history by Jane Meade Welch, courses on ancient Egypt by Lysander Dickerman, and concerts by John Philip Sousa and his band.

[14] Clara Barton, encouraged by the Baltzleys, not only located her home and the American Red Cross headquarters at Glen Echo but also presided over the Women's Executive Committee for the Chautauqua itself.

On April 7, 1892, the Glen Echo Sand and Building Company, a Baltzley subsidiary, borrowed a large sum of money giving the Chautauqua site as collateral.

[19] The central entrance to the park is dominated by Chautauqua Tower, a Richardsonian Romanesque circular structure of irregularly shaped, rough-faced stone.

The National Register of Historic Places nomination form correctly identifies the architect, Victor Mindeleff, but misspells his name.

[21] By the mid-1950s, however, attendance began to decline due to the growing popularity of larger regional theme parks such as Disneyland, and also because of the proliferation of new retail products that children of the Baby Boom generation could use during their leisure time.

[22][26] Members of the liberal, politically connected and largely Jewish Bannockburn community near the park then joined the students in protesting and picketing for change.

The court reversed the convictions on the grounds that the state of Maryland had unconstitutionally used its police power to help a private business enforce its racial exclusionary policy.

[23] In 1968, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Capital Planning Commission asked the General Services Administration (GSA) to try to acquire the Glen Echo Property by means of a swap, to include the land and all permanent structures.

[citation needed] The face of the carousel had changed greatly since 1921, with the animals, rounding boards, inner drum panels, and band organ receiving several new coats of paint over the years.

An installation photograph from 1921, as compared to the carousel in 1983, showed an original design of the body and tack on the Indian horse that was very different from the present-day animal.

[33] Glen Echo Park is home to more than a dozen resident artists and arts organizations that offer classes, concerts, exhibitions, open studios hours, workshops, and lectures.

[34][35] The park hosts several family festivals and special events throughout the year, including Family Day (when the carousel opens for the season), Then & Wow, Labor Day Art Show, Irish Music and Dance Showcase, Washington Folk Festival,[A] Fall Frolic, Contrastock,[B] an extensively-decorated Halloween dance, inaugural balls, and Winter's Eve.

From June through August, the Glen Echo Park Partnership presents a free summer concert series each Thursday night in the Bumper Car Pavilion.

Glen Echo Park offers an array of social dance events and classes in waltz, swing, contra,[36][37] and salsa.

A $19 million renovation of the Spanish Ballroom in 2003 returned it to its original splendor, giving it continued prominence as one of the premiere sites for dancing in the Washington, D.C., area.

The NPS installed the historic trolley on tracks laid in front of the entrance to Glen Echo Park, with plans to restore it at a cost of about $100,000.