clara barton national historic site

Loved learning from the park ranger about this extraordinary woman who led the US to deal with its military personnel during the civil war and who after the war, re-purposed the mission of the American Red Cross, an early NGO in our history, to address disaster relief and preparedness. Dealing with issues of gender discrimination and the lack of Congressional guidance for national non-governmental organizations, she was truely an ingenious problem-solver and tireless worker. Her home where she worked and died in the Glen Echo, MD area is a little known secret gem. It will close soon for much needed structural renovations but it should receive more prominence in the tourists' itinerary planning.

***Heavy renovations are coming to this site in 2015, so call ahead if you're visiting after fall 2014.Free parking and a free tour of Clara's house. Learn about why she moved to such a hole in the wall place and what she did there. Not a stunning house, but it does have some unusual features to it and Clara lived there a long time. Glen Echo park is a 5m walk away as well. Great side trip from DC if you have a car. Tour was about ~45m; they start on the hour. Unfortunately there is nearly nothing to do on the site while you are waiting for a tour to start.

Clara Barton organized the American Red Cross. That's all I knew before I walked in the door. The park ranger told us a lot more about her during the 45 minute presentation as well a providing information about the home she lived in for the last 15 years of her life. I went to see the house and was slightly disappointed with it but not in the story of this amazing woman. While there check out Glen Echo Park and the the fabulous merry-go-round.

The architecture of Clara Barton's house is very interesting as are the artifacts in the house. The National Park Service provides free tours.

We learned so much about Clara Barton. This site also has a Jr. Ranger program for children to work on. Beautiful house, interesting tour.

I am grateful for the opportunity to walk thru the house of such a notable historic figure. The house itself is a bit odd and can use some maintenance. But there is some unique features that make it worth a trip. Basically, there is just a 45-minute house tour here. So it is not a huge investment of time.

Really enjoyed visiting this historic site and the adjacent Glen Echo Park. So much history within the house and the Park is a throw back to the old type amusement park.

Clara Barton lived and worked in this 30 room house for over 20 years. It is operated by the National Park Service which has free tours on the hour beginning at 10 AM. We were the only ones on the first Sunday tour. Susan, a park ranger, gave an excellent, informative talk on the life of Clara Barton and the history of the house. If you have time, visit Glen Echo Park right by the house. It was a grand old amusement park which is also operated by the National Park Service.

This is a wonderful historical site for any one to visit. My kids ages 4, and 8 really learned a lot on this tour and it was really neat to hear the stories and see the rooms in Clara's house. Our tour guide did an excellent job presenting and answering questions about Clara and the home. They also have a little gift store where you may purchase books and items relating to Clara Barton. Several of the books were appropriate for children. What a great way to learn about the past!!!!

We stumbled into this historic site and ended up taking the tour. Guided tours through the house are led by park rangers on the hour from 10am to 4pm. We arrived 5mins to 1 pm and were the only ones on our tour. Our guide gave a great tour of Clara Barton's house, sharing with us the entire history of the American Red Cross, very interesting. We saw everything and our total time at the site was 45 minutes. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. Very close to Bethesda.

We were the only people there for a tour when they opened and we got a private tour. The park ranger was very knowledgable and was able to tell us all about this amazing woman and her efforts. Be aware that there wasn't any air conditioning and there are a lot of steps to climb. The house was beautiful and well worth a visit. Parking is a little tight so I would suggest getting there when they open.

Clara Barton gained stature by leading a group of medics onto the battle fields of the Civil War. She later ventured to Europe many times to serve in the newly created Red Cross organizations before returning to America. After considerable effort, she found a "home" in this beautiful Victorian house just east of Echo Park. Its 30+ rooms became the first headquarters of the American Red Cross. A 45-minute tour of the house brings her alive with a full view of her vision for medical care in the midst of war or crisis. Her new career in America began when she was 75, but her imagination and creativity knew no boundaries. Knowledgeable guides meet tourists every hour from 10:00 to 3:00 on the front porch. Couple this tour with a stroll through Glen Echo for a full morning or afternoon.

What a good choice we made of driving out of DC for a late afternoon visit at Clare Barton NHS.The story of that woman is impressive.The house is beautiful with period furnishing and the history attached to it is very interesting.The site is free to visit and includes a guided tour.The ranger was very knowledgeable and very interesting. We really love the tour.We learn a lot about Clara Barton and the American Red Cross.I highly recommend this short drive from DC to the Clara Barton NHS, you won't regret it.

Really enjoyed the house. If you like history, architecture, and/or the Park Service, this is a must-see greater-DC area historical site. Not going to belabor the point since if you're looking at this page you're likely already interested in going. Do it! But I want to talk about pedestrian access from C&O Canal Trail:We tried walking there from the C&O Canal Trail. We thought that since the NPS administers the canal, the Clara Barton site, the adjacent Glen Echo park, AND the parkway that intersects the two that there would be a pedestrian friendly crossing. We were wrong. We left the canal directly adjacent to Clara Barton site, but getting from the canal path to Clara Barton site involves a quarter mile walk down what is essentially a highway and then scurrying across 5 lanes of said highway, and navigating around a very tight blind corner under a bridge with no shoulder. This is not a pedestrian friendly route. The ranger informed us that there is a better pedestrian route further north at Cabin John Pkwy but there were unfortunately no signs along the canal to inform that that is the preferred crossing point.Asked the park ranger if there are plans to build pedestrian access between the canal and the Clara Barton site and he said there were discussions about it many years ago and nothing ever came of it. I love the park service and have been to 130 sites nationwide, but I was quite disappointed that the NPS hasn't built better pedestrian access between C&O and Clara Barton/Glen Echo. At a very minimum the NPS should put signs along the C&O indicating the best route to Clara Barton.That being said, this is still a 4/5 attraction and is recommended. Do try getting there on foot and be careful of the traffic on the parkway!

We were passing by and we decided to stop to learn a bit more about Clara Barton.The ranger and the girl that was volunteering were very nice and gave us lots of info.There are lots of nice details about the house and Clara Barton's life. If you are passing by I would recommend a detour. This was the first NPS site devoted to a woman and still one of the few.