Searching for a Destination Unknown: Roosevelt Island

In order to get myself motivated about running, I often have to think of places I want to run and see. I'm my own personal guidebook. From my half marathon training last summer I would run the Mount Vernon Trail. While I was running, I passed this little island called Roosevelt Island. No idea what it was but I ran across the bridge and came upon a trail looking kind of road. Not wanting to add any more miles to my already 10 mile run, I decided to come back later. Zoom forward a year later and I'm finally getting around to running to it and exploring it.

Little did I know it was kind of under construction, but I didn't let that damper my day!

A little background on the memorial site:

Theodore Roosevelt Island is a 88.5-acre (358,000 m²) island and a national memorial located in the Potomac River in DC. The island was given to the American people by the Theodore Roosevelt Association in memory of the 26th U.S. president.

The island is maintained by the National Park Service as part of the nearby GW Memorial Parkway. The land is generally maintained as a natural park, with various trails and a memorial plaza featuring a statue of Roosevelt. No cars or bicycles are permitted on the island, which is reached by a footbridge from Arlington, Virginia, on the western bank of the Potomac.

A small island named "Little Island" lies just off the southern tip; Georgetown and the JFK Center for Performing Arts are across the main channel of the Potomac to the north and east.

A little history:

The Nachotchtank Indians, formerly of what is now Anacostia (in Washington, D.C.), temporarily moved to the island in 1668, giving its first recorded name, "Anacostine." The island was patented in 1682 as Anacostine Island by Captain Randolph Brandt, who left the island to his daughter Margaret Hammersley, upon his death in 1698 or 1699. The island was acquired by George Mason in 1724. John Mason, the son of George Mason, inherited the Island in 1792 and owned it until 1833. John Mason built a mansion and planted gardens there in the early 19th century. The Masons left the island in 1831 when a causeway stagnated the water.

Aside from a brief period in the Civil War when Union troops were stationed there, the island has been uninhabited since the Masons left. Locals continued to call it "Mason's Island" until the memorial was built there. Around 1906, a fire on the island extensively damaged the mansion. Today, only part of the mansion's foundation remains. From 1913 to 1931, the island was owned by the Washington Gas Light Company, which allowed vegetation to grow unchecked on the island. The island has previously been known as My Lord's Island, Barbadoes Island, Mason's Island, Analostan Island, and Anacostine Island.