What Makes Oxon Hill Farm and Oxon Cove Park Special?

What makes Oxon Hill Farm and Oxon Cove Park Special?

I recently started work for the National Park Service. Because I have some writing experience I was asked to do a write up about three of our local parks answering the question “What makes this park special?”

I don’t know if my write ups will ever be used, but I thought it would be neat to put them up here on my blog.  The three parks I wrote about were Fort Washington Park, Oxon Hill Farm at Oxon Cove Park and Piscataway Park.

While they are not very long, I am posting each individually.

Oxon Hill Farm at Oxon Cove Park:

Three hundred acres of farm land inside the DC beltway.  Entering Oxon Hill Farm at Oxon Cove Park, the city drops away and a visitor is unexpectedly brought into, for many, a wholly new experience, a country farm.

Kids, many of whom have never seen a cow, get a chance to get up close with one, and they can participate in a program to where they get a chance to try milking the cow. Families also get the opportunity to participate in the chicken feeding program.

Visitors get a glimpse into life on the farm, with goats, pigs, sheep, and horses. Many are often surprised to learn that Oxon Hill Farm has been home to a farm in one form or another for over two hundred years.  Visitors come to the park to see the animals but are often most impacted by the farm’s history.

Oxon Hill Farm is home to Mt. Welby, a two hundred year old manor house, the center of life when this land was a plantation. The manor tells the story of the home’s owners, the DeButts family and the slaves who also lived there.

Oxon Cove Park is also home to hiking and biking trails, and much natural beauty along the Potomac River, all inside the beltway.

The farm, the nature and the history combine into a unique park visiting experience.