Introduction
located at washington, dc’s highest natural elevation, Tenleytown has played a critical role in defense — of the city and the nation — and in communications. The neighborhood’s story begins with two inter- secting Native American footpaths, which Euro- pean settlers later broadened into roads. In the late 1700s John Tennally opened a tavern at that inter- section, today’s Wisconsin Avenue and River Road. Soon a village named Tennallytown surrounded the tavern, with farms and estates beyond. Eventu- ally about a dozen tightly knit families, founders of Tennallytown churches and businesses, and build- ers of houses, came to dominate daily life. After the Union defeat in the Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, northern troops seized farmland and built Fort Pennsylvania (later named Fort Reno). They installed a signal tower in order to communi- cate with troops at nearby defenses in the District of Columbia and Virginia. The southern-leaning villagers, some of whom owned slaves, resented the northern military presence in their midst. In July 1864 Confederate troops marched into the District from the north. Some headed down the
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