Evening star., 1951-04-30
Famous Lily Ponds Give Kenworth Its Deserved Reputation
By GEORGE Kennedy


Kenilworth is one of those turn
Of -the-century trolley suburbs
that failed to go over. To this day
there are vacant lots along Kenil-
worth avenue, which was to have
been a suburban Main street.
Kenilworth is in Northeast-you
cross the Benning bridge. pass
the big Pepco plant, then turn
to the left on Kenilworth avenue
which runs north and finally
crosses the District line. Kenil-
worth is the area on both sides of
the avenue between the Anacostia
River and the Pennsylvania rail-
road tracks.
It shoulud not be confused
with Kensington, the quaint rail-
road suburb in Maryland at the
end of Connecticut avenue or
Kenwood-also in Maryland-the
plush real estate development
where the cherry blossoms bloom
in the spring.
The Northeast community is
part white, part colored, part in
dustrial and part Government
built low-cost housing. The Kenil-
worth Junk Co. almost spills it's
collection of wrecked automobiles
onto the sidewalk of Kenilworth
avenue. The area is too near
the railroad to have coming pro-
lection.
Kenilworth. like most of Wash
ington. is booming. Houses on the
avenue are being used as stores,
groceries. beauty parlors and q
drug store without the addition of
the conventional plate glass store
fronts.
Yet Kenilworth has reputa-
tion-and a deserved one-as a
beauty spot. 1t is the site of the
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, the
famous lily ponds known to weter
flower enthusiasts the world over.
LllacS In Bloom.
A visit to the lily ponds at
this time assures one that spring
has really arrived. The lilacs
around the old farm buildings are
in bloom and the willows that
screen the river in full leaf. Bull
frogs sound incredibly low notes
and water snakes ripple the sur
face of the ponds as they slither
between the lily pads.
Employees of the National Capt.
tai Parks are busy transplanting
tropical water flowers from the
greenhouses to the ponds. The
lilies will start blooming in June
and the ponds will be in full flower
in July and August. ..
Near the greenhouses, in a little
shingled house that used to be
a tenant house when Kenilworth
was a farm, lives Mrs. Helen
Fowler, daughter of Walter B.
Shaw. the man who started the
lily ponds. Mrs. Fowler, who is
n, developed the gardens into
q big commercial operation ship
ping roots and bulbs all over the
world and sending cut flowers to
The carriage trade florists of Chi
cago. Boston, New York and Phil
adelphia.
Mrs. Fowler's family once owned
all the area now known as Kenil-
worth. Her grandfather, David
40 Miller; owned a 100-acre farm
there. Her husbands parents,
James Marvin Fowler and wife,
owned 140-acre farm.
A Maryland Family.
The Fowlers are a Maryland
family. The Millers came from
New York State-from East Au-
rora, south of Buffalo. David A.
Miller was a relative of William
Miller, the New York State lay
preacher who disturbed much of
the Christian world with his COM
putation that the end of the world
prophesized in the book of Daniel
was due in 1943.
David Miller had no intimations
of imminent doom, but he read
the Bible SO constantly that he
lived with the prophets. He came
here as school teacher and after
the emancipation of slaves in the
District of Columbia during the
Civil War, he became superin-
tendent of the public schools for
Negro children started at that
time.
His daughter CMrs. Fowler'sI
mother) was Miss North" in the
first Lincoln inaugural parade. It
came about like this: The parade
as planned emphasized military
might, just as parades do today
The South was threatening toI
secede. At the last minute, some
one thought it would be a good
idea to have a float dedicated toI
peace. The float bearing a pyra-
mid of girls in white was drawn
by eight white horses. The girls
represented the States except the
two at the top of the pyramid,
Miss, North" and Miss South"
The date was March 4, 1861, and
the day was cold. The girls were
dressed in tulle.
Kept Warm "By Vanity"
Il was kept warm by my vanity" u
she always told her daughter. She
was IL at the time. /
Something ominous happened
The peace float broke down, hadl
to be repaired. The new President
was just about through greeting
his paraders when the girls ar
rived. He not only greeted them, he
kissed Miss North and Miss South
Miss North first. AS he put the