The neighborhood of Woodley Park owes its name to the Woodley estate of Philip Barto Key (1767-1815). Key, uncle of Francis Scott Key, who wrote "Star Spangled Banner", was an officer on the British side during the Revolutionary War. He later served two terms in the new U.S. House of Representatives. Philip and his wife Ann Key, built the mansion in 1801 and with the assistance of several slaves, raised one son and and six daughters here.
Woodley has been home to a succession of prominent Americans. It served as the "summer White House" for two presidents (Van Buren and Cleveland) and reputedly for two others (Tyler and Buchanan). Residents included Civil War General Lorenzo Thomas; Robert Walker, the diplomat-statesman who arranged the purchase of Alaska; Senator Francis Newlands, Chevy Chase Developer; General George Patton; and Henry Stimson, cabinet secretary under presidents Taft, Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt.
Woodley was sold to the Maret School in 1950. The School began in 1911, when Mathe Maret, a Swiss émigré, began teaching French to girls in her Rhode Island Avenue apartment. As the school grew, Marhe's sisters, Jeanne and Louise, began teaching also. The school moved twice before it made Woodley its home, Maret is an independent, coeducational school with grades kindergarten through twelfth.
The Woodley Park call boxes were developed by the Woodley Park Community Association as part of Art on Call, a program of Cultural Tourism DC with support from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, and the District Department of Transportation. Local support for this call box was provided by the Woodley Park Community Association and Shapiro & Company LLC. Visit www.woodleypark.org for map and more information.
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