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Frederick Law Olmsted

Frederick Law Olmsted

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Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 journalist, landscape designer and father of American landscape architecture
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is a the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve socio-behavioural, environmental, and/or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the careful design of...

, famous for designing many well-known urban parks, including Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a large public, urban park that occupies over a square mile in the heart of Manhattan in New York City. It is host to approximately twenty-five million visitors each year...

 and Prospect Park
Prospect Park (Brooklyn)
Prospect Park is a 585-acre public park in the New York City borough of Brooklyn located between Park Slope, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Kensington, Windsor Terrace and Flatbush Avenue, Grand Army Plaza and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden...

 in New York City. Other projects include the country's oldest coordinated system of public parks and parkways in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, second only to New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River, Buffalo is the principal city of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the seat of Erie...

; the country's oldest state park, the Niagara Reservation in Niagara Falls, New York
Niagara Falls, New York
Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 55,593. It is across the Niagara River from Niagara Falls, Ontario , both named after the famed Niagara Falls which they share...

; Mount Royal Park in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...

 in Canada; the Emerald Necklace
Emerald Necklace
The Emerald Necklace consists of an chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. The Emerald Necklace includes:* Boston Common* Boston Public Garden* Commonwealth Avenue Mall* Back Bay Fens* The Riverway...

 in Boston, Massachusetts; the Belle Isle Park, in Detroit
Detroit
Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...

, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

; the Presque Isle Park in Marquette, Michigan
Marquette, Michigan
Marquette is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Marquette County. The population was 19,661 at the 2000 census. Marquette is a major port on Lake Superior, primarily for shipping iron ore and is the home of Northern Michigan University. It is the largest city of the Upper...

; the Grand Necklace of Parks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. states. Located in the north-central United States, Wisconsin is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the...

; the Cherokee Park
Cherokee Park
Cherokee Park is a 409-acre municipal park located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It was designed, like 18 of Louisville's 123 public parks, by Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of landscape architecture...

 and entire parks and parkway system in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is Kentucky's largest city and county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's estimated population as of 2008 was 713,877 , with a population of 1,244,696 in the Louisville...

; the Marquette Park in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...

; Jackson Park
Jackson Park (Chicago)
Jackson Park is a 500 acre park on Chicago's South Side, located at 6401 South Stony Island Avenue in the Woodlawn community area. It extends into the South Shore and Hyde Park community areas, bordering Lake Michigan and several South Side neighborhoods...

, Washington Park
Washington Park, Chicago
Washington Park is a well-defined community area on the South Side of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, USA. It includes the 372 acre park named Washington Park, stretching east-west from Cottage Grove Avenue to the Dan Ryan Expressway, and north-south from 63rd Street to 51st...

, and the Midway Plaisance
Midway Plaisance
The Midway Plaisance, also known locally as the Midway, is a mile-long linear park on the South Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois between 59th and 60th Streets, joining Washington Park at its west end and Jackson Park at its east end. It divides the Hyde Park community area to the north from...

 in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...

 for the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition — also known as The Chicago World's Fair — was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World. Chicago bested New York City, Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, Missouri, for the honor of...

; the south portion of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...

's Boulevard
Boulevard
Boulevard has several generally accepted meanings. It was first introduced in the French language in 1435 as boloard and has since been altered into boulevard....

 ring (its 'emerald necklace'); the landscape surrounding the United States Capitol building; George Washington Vanderbilt II
George Washington Vanderbilt II
George Washington Vanderbilt II was a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family, which had amassed a huge fortune through steamboats, railroads, and various business enterprises....

's Biltmore Estate
Biltmore Estate
Biltmore House is a French Renaissance-style mansion near Asheville, North Carolina, built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1888 and 1895. It is the largest privately-owned home in the United States, at and featuring 250 rooms. Still owned by one of Vanderbilt's descendants, it stands...

 in Asheville
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and continues to grow. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that Asheville's population as of 2007 was 73,875...

; and Montebello Park in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.

Early life and education


Olmsted was born in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located in Hartford County on the Connecticut River, north of the center of the state, south of Springfield, Massachusetts. Its 2006 population of 124,512 ranks Hartford as the state's second-largest city, after Bridgeport. New...

 in 1822. His father, John Olmsted, a prosperous merchant, took a lively interest in nature, people, and places, which was inherited by both Frederick Law and his younger brother, John Hull. His mother, Charlotte Law (Hull) Olmsted, died when he was scarcely four years old. His father remarried in 1827 to Mary Ann Bull, who shared her husband's strong love of nature and had perhaps a more cultivated taste.

When the young Olmsted was almost ready to enter Yale College
Yale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...

, as a graduate of Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9-12...

 in 1838, sumac poisoning
Poison Sumac
Poison sumac is a woody shrub or small tree growing to 7 m tall. All parts of the plant contain a resin called urushiol that causes skin and mucous membrane irritation to humans...

 weakened his eyes and he gave up college plans. After working as a seaman, merchant, and journalist, in January 1848 Olmsted settled on a farm on the south shore of Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...

 which his father helped him acquire. This farm, originally named the Akerly Homestead
Akerly Homestead
Frederick Law Olmsted was given a large farm on Staten Island in 1848 by his father to grow crops, plant trees and clear for pasture for livestock. The farm was originally named the Ackerly farm, and had a modest Dutch farmhouse on one of the higher hills overlooking Raritan Bay, and Sandy Hook in...

, was renamed Tosomock Farm by Olmsted. It was later renamed "The Woods of Arden" by owner Erastus Wiman
Erastus Wiman
Erastus Wiman was a Canadian journalist and businessman who later moved to the United States.Wiman was born in Churchville, Upper Canada, now part of Ontario, on April 21, 1834....

. (The house in which Olmsted lived still stands today at 4515 Hylan Blvd, near Woods of Arden Road.)

Career


Olmsted had a significant career in journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the craft of conveying news, descriptive material and comment via a widening spectrum of media. These include newspapers, magazines, radio and television, the internet and even, more recently, the mobile phone...

. In 1850, he traveled to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 to visit public gardens, where he was greatly impressed by Joseph Paxton
Joseph Paxton
Sir Joseph Paxton was an English gardener and architect, best known for designing the The Crystal Palace.-Early life:...

's Birkenhead Park
Birkenhead Park
Birkenhead Park is a public park in the centre of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. It was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened on 5 April 1847...

. He subsequently wrote and published Walks and Talks of an American Farmer in England in 1852. This supported his getting additional work.

Interested in the slave economy, he was commissioned by the New York Daily Times (now The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...

) to embark on an extensive research journey through the American South and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...

 from 1852 to 1857. From the Texas trip, Olmsted wrote his narrative account published as A Journey Through Texas (1857). It was recognized as the work of an astute observer of the land and lifestyles of Texas. Olmsted believed that slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a form of forced labor in which people are considered to be the property of others. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive compensation...

 was not only morally odious, but expensive and economically inefficient.

His dispatches to the Times were collected into multiple volumes which remain vivid first-person social documents of the pre-war South. The last of these, Journeys and Explorations in the Cotton Kingdom (1861), was published during the first six months of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...

. It helped inform and galvanize antislavery sentiment in the Northeast. These three volumes were later condensed and edited as a single volume.

In 1865, Olmsted cofounded the magazine The Nation.

Marriage and family


On June 13, 1859, Olmsted married Mary Cleveland (Perkins) Olmsted, the widow of his brother John (who had died in 1857). He adopted her three sons (his nephews), among them John Charles Olmsted
John Charles Olmsted
John Charles Olmsted , the nephew and adopted son of Frederick Law Olmsted, was an American landscape architect. With his brother, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., he founded Olmsted Brothers, a landscape design firm in Brookline, Massachusetts. The firm is famous for designing many public places,...

. Frederick and Mary had two children together who survived infancy: a daughter and a son Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. was an American landscape architect best known for his wildlife conservation efforts. He had a lifetime commitment to national parks, and worked on projects in Acadia, the Everglades and Yosemite National Park. Olmsted Point in Yosemite and Olmsted Island at Great Falls...


New York City's Central Park


Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing was an American landscape designer and writer, a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival style in the United States, and editor of The Horticulturist magazine .-Early life:...

, the charismatic landscape architect from Newburgh, New York, first proposed the development of New York's Central Park in his role as publisher of The Horticulturist magazine. A friend and mentor to Olmsted, Downing introduced him to the English-born architect Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux , was an architect and landscape designer. He is best remembered as the co-designer , of New York's Central Park....

. Downing had brought Vaux from England as his architect collaborator. After Downing died in July 1852, in a widely publicized steamboat explosion on the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. It rises at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains, flows past Albany, and finally forms the border between New York City and New Jersey at its mouth before emptying into...

, Olmsted and Vaux entered the Central Park design competition together, against Egbert Ludovicus Viele among others.

They were announced as winners in 1858. On his return from the South, Olmsted began executing their plan almost immediately. Olmsted and Vaux continued their informal partnership to design Prospect Park in Brooklyn from 1865 to 1873. That was followed by other projects. Vaux remained in the shadow of Olmsted's grand public personality and social connections.

The design of Central Park embodies Olmsted's social consciousness and commitment to egalitarian ideals. Influenced by Downing and his own observations regarding social class in England, China and the American South, Olmsted believed that the common green space must always be equally accessible to all citizens. This principle is now fundamental to the idea of a "public park", but was not assumed as necessary then. Olmsted's tenure as park commissioner in New York was a long struggle to preserve that idea.

Civil War


Olmsted took leave as director of Central Park to work as Executive Secretary of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, a precursor to the Red Cross in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...

. He tended to the wounded during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...

. In 1862, during Union General George B. McClellan
George B. McClellan
George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...

's Peninsula Campaign
Peninsula Campaign
The Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B...

, Olmsted headed the medical effort for the sick and wounded at White House
White House (plantation)
White House, an 18th-century plantation near White House in New Kent County, Virginia, was the home of Martha Dandridge Custis and Daniel Parke Custis after they were married in 1750. They had four children, two of whom survived childhood...

 in New Kent County
New Kent County, Virginia
New Kent County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. As of the 2000 census, the population was 13,462. Its county seat is New Kent. It is located in the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area .-...

, where there was a ship landing on the Pamunkey River
Pamunkey River
The Pamunkey River is a tributary of the York River, about 90 mi long, in eastern Virginia in the United States. Via the York River it is part of the watershed of Chesapeake Bay.-Course:...

.

On the home front, Olmsted was one of the six founding members of the Union League Club of New York
Union League Club of New York
The Union League Club of New York is a prominent social club in New York City. Its fourth and current clubhouse is a building designed by Benjamin Wystar Morris, located at 38 E...

.

U.S. park designer


In 1863, he went west to become the manager of the Mariposa
Rancho Las Mariposas
Rancho Las Mariposas was a Mexican land grant in present day Mariposa County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Juan Bautista Alvarado. The grant takes its name from Mariposa Creek, which was named for the butterflies in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains...

 mining estate in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California
California
California is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...

. For his early work in Yosemite Valley, Olmsted Point
Olmsted Point
Olmsted Point, located in Yosemite National Park, is a viewing area like Glacier Point that offers an amazing view looking South-West into Yosemite...

 near Tenaya Lake
Tenaya Lake
Tenaya Lake is a lake in Yosemite National Park, located between Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows.Tenaya Lake was created by the Tenaya branch of the Tuolumne Glacier as it passed through Tenaya Canyon. The outflow of the lake is Tenaya Creek, which runs through Tenaya Canyon into Yosemite Valley...

 is named after him.

In 1865 Vaux and Olmsted formed Olmsted, Vaux and Company. When Olmsted returned to New York, he and Vaux designed Prospect Park; suburban Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...

's Riverside
Riverside, Illinois
Riverside is an affluent suburban village in Cook County, Illinois, a significant portion of which is included in the Riverside Landscape Architecture District. The population was 8,895 at the 2000 census...

; Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, second only to New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River, Buffalo is the principal city of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the seat of Erie...

's park system; Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin and 23rd largest in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. Its estimated 2008 population was 604,477. Milwaukee is the main cultural and economic center of the...

's grand necklace of parks; and the Niagara Reservation at Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls are voluminous waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York...

.

Olmsted not only created numerous city parks around the country, he also conceived of entire systems of parks and interconnecting parkways to connect certain cities to green spaces. Two of the best examples of the scale on which Olmsted worked are the park system designed for Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, second only to New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River, Buffalo is the principal city of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the seat of Erie...

, one of the largest projects; and the system he designed for Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin and 23rd largest in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. Its estimated 2008 population was 604,477. Milwaukee is the main cultural and economic center of the...

.
For a list of Olmsted designed parks in Buffalo, New York, please see Buffalo, New York parks system
Buffalo, New York parks system
The Buffalo, New York public parks and parkways system is the United States' oldest coordinated system of such recreational spaces, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux between 1868 and 1896. It was inspired in large part by the parkland, boulevards, and squares of Paris, France...

.


Olmsted was a frequent collaborator with Henry Hobson Richardson
Henry Hobson Richardson
Henry Hobson Richardson was a prominent American architect of the 19th century whose work left a significant impact on Boston, Pittsburgh, Albany and Chicago, among others.-Biography:...

, for whom he devised the landscaping schemes for half a dozen projects, including Richardson's commission for the Buffalo State Asylum.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Richardson_Complex

In 1883 Olmsted established what is considered to be the first full-time landscape architecture firm in Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town was 57,107.-Etymology:...

. He called the home and office compound Fairsted. It is now the restored Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in Brookline, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Frederick Law Olmsted is recognized as the founder of American landscape architecture and the nation’s foremost parkmaker...

. From there Olmsted designed Boston's Emerald Necklace
Emerald Necklace
The Emerald Necklace consists of an chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. The Emerald Necklace includes:* Boston Common* Boston Public Garden* Commonwealth Avenue Mall* Back Bay Fens* The Riverway...

, the campuses of Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States...

 and the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private, coeducational research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by oil magnate and benefactor John D...

, as well as the 1893 World's Fair
World's Fair
Universal Exposition or Expo is the name given to various large public exhibitions held since the mid-19th century. They are the third largest event in the world in terms of economic and cultural impact after the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games...

 in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...

, among many other projects.

Death and legacy


In 1895, senility forced Olmsted to retire. In 1898 he moved to Belmont, Massachusetts
Belmont, Massachusetts
Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. The population was 24,194 at the 2000 census.- History :Belmont was founded on March 18, 1859 by former citizens of, and land from the bordering towns of Watertown, to the south; Waltham, to the west; and Arlington, then...

 and took up residence as a patient at McLean Hospital
McLean Hospital
McLean Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.It is noted for its clinical staff expertise and ground-breaking neuroscience research...

, whose grounds he had designed several years before. He remained there until his death in 1903. He was buried in the Old North Cemetery, Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located in Hartford County on the Connecticut River, north of the center of the state, south of Springfield, Massachusetts. Its 2006 population of 124,512 ranks Hartford as the state's second-largest city, after Bridgeport. New...

.

After Olmsted's retirement and death, his sons John Charles Olmsted
John Charles Olmsted
John Charles Olmsted , the nephew and adopted son of Frederick Law Olmsted, was an American landscape architect. With his brother, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., he founded Olmsted Brothers, a landscape design firm in Brookline, Massachusetts. The firm is famous for designing many public places,...

 and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. was an American landscape architect best known for his wildlife conservation efforts. He had a lifetime commitment to national parks, and worked on projects in Acadia, the Everglades and Yosemite National Park. Olmsted Point in Yosemite and Olmsted Island at Great Falls...

 continued the work of their firm, doing business as the Olmsted Brothers
Olmsted Brothers
The Olmsted Brothers company was an influential landscape design firm in the United States, formed in 1898 by stepbrothers John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. . They inherited the nation's first landscape architecture business from their father Frederick Law Olmsted...

. The firm lasted until 1980.

A quotation from Olmsted's friend and colleague architect Daniel Burnham
Daniel Burnham
Daniel Hudson Burnham, FAIA was an American architect and urban planner. He was the Director of Works for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and designed several famous buildings, including the Flatiron Building in New York City and Union Station in Washington D.C.-Biography:Burnham was...

 could serve as an epitaph. Referring to Olmsted in March, 1893, Burnham said, "An artist, he paints with lakes and wooded slopes; with lawns and banks and forest covered hills; with mountain sides and ocean views."

Academic campuses designed by Olmsted


Between 1857 and 1895, Olmsted designed numerous school and college campuses.

From 1895-1950, the Olmsted Brothers
Olmsted Brothers
The Olmsted Brothers company was an influential landscape design firm in the United States, formed in 1898 by stepbrothers John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. . They inherited the nation's first landscape architecture business from their father Frederick Law Olmsted...

 (his successors) added to some of their father's initial projects, as well as designing new ones. (See their article for projects.) Together, these works totaled 355. Some of the most famous of Frederick Law Olmsted are listed here.
  • American University
    American University
    American University is a private United Methodist-affiliated research university in Washington, D.C., USA, the main campus of which comes to a corner at the intersection of Nebraska and Massachusetts Avenues at Ward Circle, straddling the Spring Valley, Wesley Heights, and American University Park...

     Main Campus, Washington, D.C.
    Washington, D.C.
    Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...

  • Auburn University
    Auburn University
    Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, U.S. With more than 24,100 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 1, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts school...

     Main Campus, Auburn, AL
  • Berwick Academy
    Berwick Academy
    Berwick Academy is a highly selective private college preparatory school located in South Berwick, Maine. Founded in 1791, it is the oldest school in Maine and one of the oldest private schools in America. The school sits on a , 11-building campus on a hill overlooking the Salmon Falls River, near...

    , South Berwick, ME (1894)
  • University of Chicago
    University of Chicago
    The University of Chicago is a private, coeducational research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by oil magnate and benefactor John D...

    , Chicago, IL
  • Colgate University
    Colgate University
    Colgate University is a private liberal arts college located in the Village of Hamilton in Madison County, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary, but later became non-denominational...

    , Hamilton, New York
  • Cornell University
    Cornell University
    Cornell University is a private university located in Ithaca, New York, USA, that is a member of the Ivy League.Cornell counts more than 255,000 living alumni, 28 Rhodes Scholars and 41 Nobel laureates affiliated with the university as faculty or students...

    , Ithaca, New York
    Ithaca, New York
    The city of Ithaca, , sits on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, in Central New York, USA. It is best known for being home to Cornell University, an Ivy League school with almost 20,000 students...

     (1867-73)
  • Denison University
    Denison University
    Denison University is a private, residential liberal arts and sciences college in Granville, Ohio, approximately 30 miles east of Columbus. Denison was founded in 1831. As of June 2009 its enrollment is 2,242 students...

    , Granville, Ohio
    Granville, Ohio
    Granville is a village in Licking County, Ohio, United States, founded by settlers from Granville, Massachusetts. It now has three times the population of the eastern town. The population was 3,167 at the 2000 census. The Buxton Inn and the Granville Inn have been part of the village for many...

  • Fairleigh Dickinson University
    Fairleigh Dickinson University
    Fairleigh Dickinson University is an American private university founded in 1942. It is the largest private university in New Jersey and is the only college or university to physically offer instruction in all 21 counties in New Jersey...

    , Madison, New Jersey
    Madison, New Jersey
    Madison is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, in the United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the population was 16,530. It also is known as "The Rose City."-Geography:Madison is located at ....

  • Gallaudet University
    Gallaudet University
    Gallaudet University is a federally chartered, quasi-governmental university for the education of the deaf and hard-of-hearing, located in Washington, D.C...

    , Washington, D.C. (1866)
  • Groton School
    Groton School
    Groton School is a private, Episcopal, college preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, U.S. It enrolls approximately 350 boys and girls, from the eighth through twelfth grades. For decades Groton was a portal to power whose graduates trod a well-worn path to the State...

    , Groton, Massachusetts
    Groton, Massachusetts
    Groton is an affluent town located in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population of Groton was 9,547 at the 2000 census. It is home to two world renowned prep schools: Groton School, founded in 1884, and Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 1793...

  • Grove City College
    Grove City College
    Grove City College is a Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania, about sixty-five miles north of Pittsburgh. According to the College Bulletin, its stated three-fold mission is to provide an excellent education at an affordable price in a thoroughly Christian environment...

    , Grove City, Pennsylvania
    Grove City, Pennsylvania
    Grove City is a borough in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, approximately 50 miles north of Pittsburgh. It is the home of Grove City College, a private conservative Christian liberal arts college as well as General Electric, Instron, USIS and a number of small businesses. It is also the home to George...

  • Iowa State University
    Iowa State University
    The Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced a number of astronauts, scientists, Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners,...

    , Ames, Iowa
    Ames, Iowa
    Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa in Story County, and approximately north of Des Moines. It is the principal city of the Ames, Iowa...

  • Lawrenceville School
    Lawrenceville School
    The Lawrenceville School is a coeducational, independent preparatory boarding school for grades 9-12 located on in the historic community of Lawrenceville, in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, U.S. five miles southwest of Princeton. Today, the School enrolls 800 boarding and day students, who come...

    , Lawrenceville, New Jersey
    Lawrenceville, New Jersey
    Lawrenceville is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Lawrence Township in Mercer County, New Jersey. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 4,081...

     (1883-1901)
  • Manhattanville College
    Manhattanville College
    Manhattanville College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering undergraduate and graduate degrees, located in Purchase, New York, USA. Founded in 1841 it was known in initially as Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart...

    , Purchase, New York
    Purchase, New York
    Purchase, New York is a hamlet of the town of Harrison, in Westchester County. Its ZIP code is 10577.Purchase is home to Purchase College, which is part of the State University of New York system, Manhattanville College, a private liberal arts college, and the headquarters of PepsiCo, Inc,...

  • Miami University
    Miami University
    Miami University is a coeducational public university located in the college town of Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809 and is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and second oldest in the U.S. state of Ohio. Miami is cited as one of the eight original Public...

    , Oxford, Ohio
    Oxford, Ohio
    Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern portion of the state. It lies in Oxford Township, originally called the College Township. The population was 21,943 at the 2000 census. This college town was founded as a home for Miami University. Oxford...

     (1912)
  • Michigan State University
    Michigan State University
    Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act. Its alumni include at least six winners of the...

    , East Lansing, Michigan
    East Lansing, Michigan
    East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located directly east of Lansing, Michigan, the state's capital. Most of the city is within Ingham County, though a small portion lies in Clinton County. The population was 46,525 at the time of the 2000 census...

  • Mount Holyoke College
    Mount Holyoke College
    Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is a member of the Seven Sisters and one of the oldest women's colleges in the United States...

    , South Hadley, Massachusetts
    South Hadley, Massachusetts
    South Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,196 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....

  • Noble and Greenough School
    Noble and Greenough School
    The Noble and Greenough School, commonly known as Nobles, is a coeducational, nonsectarian day and boarding school for students in grades seven through twelve. It is located on a campus in Dedham, Massachusetts. The current enrollment of 550 students includes a balance of boys and girls, of whom...

    , Dedham, Massachusetts
    Dedham, Massachusetts
    Dedham /ˈdɛdəm/ is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 23,464 at the 2000 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border...


  • Oregon State University
    Oregon State University
    Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are over 200 academic degree programs offered through the university...

    , Corvallis, Oregon
    Corvallis, Oregon
    Corvallis is a city located in central western Oregon, United States. It is the county seat of Benton County and the principal city of the "Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area", which encompasses all of Benton County...

     (1890ss)
  • Phillips Academy
    Phillips Academy
    Phillips Academy is a co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9-12...

    , Andover, Massachusetts
    Andover, Massachusetts
    Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2000 census population was 31,247. It is part of the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts-New Hampshire metropolitan statistical area....

     (1891-1965)
  • Pomfret School
    Pomfret School
    Pomfret School is a highly selective independent coeducational boarding and day school located in Pomfret, Connecticut, United States for grades 9 through 12 and offers a post-graduate year. Pomfret School was founded in 1894, on the principles of intellectual rigor and the development of character...

    , Pomfret, Connecticut
    Pomfret, Connecticut
    Pomfret is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,798 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 40.6 square miles , of which, 40.3 square miles of it is land and 0.3 square miles of...

  • Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, Connecticut
    West Hartford, Connecticut
    West Hartford is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town was incorporated in 1854. Prior to that date, the town was a parish of Hartford....

  • Smith College
    Smith College
    Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...

    , Northampton, Massachusetts
    Northampton, Massachusetts
    Northampton is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 28,978 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Hampshire County...

     (1891-1909)
  • St. Joseph Hill Academy
    St. Joseph Hill Academy
    St. Joseph Hill High School is a private all girls school in the Arrochar neighborhood of Staten Island, New York. Located on a scenic campus , the school serves approximately 400 young women in the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades and is accompanied by a coeducational wing for students in pre-K...

    , Staten Island
    Staten Island
    Staten Island is a borough of New York City in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...

    , New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

  • Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
    Palo Alto, California
    Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, USA. It is named after a tree called El Palo Alto...

     (1886-1914)
  • Trinity College
    Trinity College (Connecticut)
    Trinity College is a private, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1823, it is the second oldest college in the state of Connecticut after Yale University...

    , Hartford, Connecticut
    Hartford, Connecticut
    Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located in Hartford County on the Connecticut River, north of the center of the state, south of Springfield, Massachusetts. Its 2006 population of 124,512 ranks Hartford as the state's second-largest city, after Bridgeport. New...

     (1872-94)
  • University of California, Berkeley
    University of California, Berkeley
    The University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines...

    , Berkeley, California
    Berkeley, California
    Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...

     (1865)
  • University of Rochester
    University of Rochester
    The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university located in Rochester, New York. The University grants undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and professional degrees through six schools and various interdisciplinary programs...

    , Rochester, New York
    Rochester, New York
    Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. The Rochester metropolitan area is the second largest economy in New York State, behind the New York City metropolitan area. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and...

  • Washington University
    Washington University in St. Louis
    Washington University in St. Louis is a nonsectarian, private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853 and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than one hundred and twenty five nations...

    , St. Louis, Missouri
    St. Louis, Missouri
    St. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. With an estimated population of 354,361 in 2008, it is the principal municipality of Greater St. Louis, population 2,866,517, the largest urban area in Missouri and sixteenth largest in the United States...

     (1865-99)
  • Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts
    Wellesley, Massachusetts
    Wellesley is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 26,613 at the 2000 census. It is best known as the home of Wellesley College and Babson College. The Hunnewell Arboretum abuts the Wellesley campus, and the Elm Bank Horticulture Center is also located in...

  • Yale University
    Yale University
    Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five...

    , New Haven, Connecticut
    New Haven, Connecticut
    New Haven is the second-largest municipality in Connecticut, after Bridgeport and just ahead of Hartford, with a core population of about 124,000 people. "New Haven" may also refer to the wider Greater New Haven area, which has nearly 600,000 inhabitants in the immediate area...

     (1874-81)


ABC

  • Arnold Arboretum, Boston, Massachusetts
  • Back Bay Fens
    Back Bay Fens
    The Back Bay Fens, most commonly called simply The Fens, is a parkland and urban wild in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States.Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to serve as a link in the Emerald Necklace park system, the Fens gives its name to the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood, which in turn...

    , Arborway and Riverway, Boston, Massachusetts
  • Beardsley Park, Bridgeport, Connecticut
    Bridgeport, Connecticut
    Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in and the former county seat of Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 137,912 in 2006 and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...

    , 1884
  • Belle Isle, Detroit, Michigan
    Detroit, Michigan
    Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...

    , landscaped in the 1880s
  • Biltmore Estate
    Biltmore Estate
    Biltmore House is a French Renaissance-style mansion near Asheville, North Carolina, built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1888 and 1895. It is the largest privately-owned home in the United States, at and featuring 250 rooms. Still owned by one of Vanderbilt's descendants, it stands...

     grounds, Asheville, North Carolina
    Asheville, North Carolina
    Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and continues to grow. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that Asheville's population as of 2007 was 73,875...

  • Branch Brook Park
    Branch Brook Park
    Branch Brook Park is a county park of Essex County, New Jersey in the United States, located in the North Ward of Newark, between the neighborhoods of Forest Hill and Belleville. At 360 acres , Branch Brook Park is the largest public park in the city of Newark. The park is noted for having over...

    , Newark, New Jersey
    Newark, New Jersey
    Brick City redirects here. For the township in Ocean County, see Brick Township, New Jersey.Newark is the largest city in New Jersey, and the county seat of Essex County. Newark has a population of 281,402, making it the largest municipality in New Jersey and the 65th largest city in the U.S...

    , 1900 redesign
  • Brandywine Park, Wilmington, Delaware
    Wilmington, Delaware
    Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

    , 1886
  • Brookdale Park, Bloomfield & Montclair, New Jersey built 1928–1931
  • Buffalo, New York parks system
    Buffalo, New York parks system
    The Buffalo, New York public parks and parkways system is the United States' oldest coordinated system of such recreational spaces, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux between 1868 and 1896. It was inspired in large part by the parkland, boulevards, and squares of Paris, France...

  • Bushnell Park, Hartford, Connecticut
  • Butler Hospital
    Butler Hospital
    Butler Hospital is a private, non-profit, psychiatric and substance abuse hospital for children, adolescence, adults, and seniors, located in Providence, Rhode Island. The hospital is affiliated with the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and is the flagship for Brown University's...

    , Providence, Rhode Island
    Providence, Rhode Island
    Providence is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, and one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the estimated second or third largest city in the New England region...

  • Buttonwood Park, New Bedford, Massachusetts
    New Bedford, Massachusetts
    New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located 51 miles south of Boston, 28 miles southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about 12 miles east of Fall River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 93,768, making it the seventh-largest in the...

  • Cadwalader Park, Trenton, New Jersey
    Trenton, New Jersey
    Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated that the City of Trenton had a population of 82,804....

  • Carroll Park, Bay City, Michigan
    Bay City, Michigan
    Bay City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2000 census, the city's population was 36,817, with the 2008 census estimate placing the population at 33,874...

  • Central Park
    Central Park
    Central Park is a large public, urban park that occupies over a square mile in the heart of Manhattan in New York City. It is host to approximately twenty-five million visitors each year...

    , Manhattan
    Manhattan
    Manhattan is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.New York County, which has the same boundaries as the Borough of Manhattan , is the most densely populated county in the United States, with a 2008 population of 1,634,795...

    , New York City
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...

    , 1853 (opened in 1856)
  • Cherokee Park
    Cherokee Park
    Cherokee Park is a 409-acre municipal park located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It was designed, like 18 of Louisville's 123 public parks, by Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of landscape architecture...

    , Louisville, Kentucky
    Louisville, Kentucky
    Louisville is Kentucky's largest city and county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's estimated population as of 2008 was 713,877 , with a population of 1,244,696 in the Louisville...

  • Civic Center Park
    Civic Center, Denver
    Civic Center is a neighborhood and park in Denver, Colorado. The area is known as the center of the civic life in the city, with numerous institutions of arts, government, and culture as well as numerous festivals, parades, and protests throughout the year...

    , Denver, Colorado
    Denver, Colorado
    The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the state of Colorado, in the United States. Denver is a consolidated city-county located in the South Platte River Valley on the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

  • Congress Park, Saratoga Springs, New York
    Saratoga Springs, New York
    Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,186 at the 2000 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American place name, authorities disagree on what...

  • Cushing Island, Maine
    Cushing Island, Maine
    Cushing Island is an island in Casco Bay in the U.S. state of Maine. The island is privately owned; roughly 45 families live there seasonally. Islanders know the place as "Cushing's Island." It is part of the city of Portland....


DEF

  • Deering Oaks
    Deering Oaks
    Deering Oaks is a 51-acre large public area in Portland, Maine, which has a baseball diamond, tennis courts, a playground, and a pond. It is located west of downtown Portland and is bordered by Deering Avenue on the west, Forest Avenue on the east, Park Avenue to the south and Interstate 295 to...

    , Portland, ME
  • Downing Park
    Downing Park (Newburgh, New York)
    Downing Park is the largest of several public parks in the city of Newburgh, New York, USA.The park was designed in the late 19th century by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who gave the design to the city on the condition it would be named after their mentor, Andrew Jackson Downing, a...

    , Newburgh, New York
    Newburgh (city), New York
    Newburgh is a city located in Orange County, New York, 60 miles north of New York City, and south of Albany, on the Hudson River. The population was 28,259 at the 2000 census. Figures released by the U. S. Census Bureau in late June 2009 estimated that the population at that time was 28,101...

  • Druid Hills, Georgia
    Druid Hills, Georgia
    Druid Hills is an affluent suburb in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 12,741 at the 2000 census. The CDP contains the main campus of Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.-Geography:...

  • Druid Hill Park
    Druid Hill Park
    Druid Hill Park in northwest Baltimore, Maryland, United States, ranks with Central Park in New York, begun in 1859, and Fairmount Park in Philadelphia as the oldest landscaped public parks in the United States. Druid Hill Park is a urban park...

    , Baltimore, Maryland
    Baltimore, Maryland
    Baltimore is an independent city and the largest city in the state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore City in order to distinguish it from surrounding...

  • Eastern Parkway
    Eastern Parkway (Brooklyn)
    Eastern Parkway is a major boulevard that runs through a portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The road begins at Grand Army Plaza and extends east, running parallel to Atlantic Avenue, along the crest of the moraine that separates northern from southern Long Island, to Ralph Avenue...

    , Brooklyn, New York
  • Elizabeth Park, Hartford
    Hartford, Connecticut
    Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located in Hartford County on the Connecticut River, north of the center of the state, south of Springfield, Massachusetts. Its 2006 population of 124,512 ranks Hartford as the state's second-largest city, after Bridgeport. New...

     & West Hartford, Connecticut
    West Hartford, Connecticut
    West Hartford is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town was incorporated in 1854. Prior to that date, the town was a parish of Hartford....

  • Elm Park, Worcester, Massachusetts
    Worcester, Massachusetts
    Worcester is a city in the state of Massachusetts in the United States of America. Having a population of 172,648 in the 2000 census, Worcester is ranked the second or third largest city in New England. It is the county seat of Worcester County....

    , perhaps one of his first projects
  • Elmwood Cemetery
    Elmwood Cemetery (Detroit, Michigan)
    Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan is one of Michigan's most important historic cemeteries. Located at 1200 Elmwood Street on Detroit's east side, Elmwood is the oldest continuously operating, non-denominational cemetery in Michigan. The cemetery was established in 1846 as a rural cemetery and...

    , Detroit, Michigan
    Detroit, Michigan
    Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...

  • Fairmount Park, Riverside, California
    Riverside, California
    Riverside is the largest city in the Inland Empire Metropolitan Area of Southern California, and is approximately 60 miles east of Los Angeles, and 12 miles southwest of San Bernardino. Riverside is the county seat of Riverside County, and is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River...

  • Florham, former estate of Hamilton and Florence (Vanderbilt) Twombly. Now the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University, Florham Park, New Jersey
    Florham Park, New Jersey
    Florham Park is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 8,857, which had grown to 12,389 as of the Bureau's 2008 estimate....

  • Forest Park
    Forest Park (Queens)
    Forest Park is an urban forest, one of the natural treasures of the New York City borough of Queens. It has an area of 538 acres . The park is operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.-History:...

    , Queens, New York
  • Fort Greene Park
    Fort Greene Park
    Fort Greene Park is a municipal park in Brooklyn, New York, comprising 30.2 acres .The park includes the high ground where the Continental Army built Fort Putnam during the American Revolutionary War. The site was chosen and the construction supervised by General Nathanael Greene...

    , Brooklyn, New York
  • Fort Tryon Park
    Fort Tryon Park
    Fort Tryon Park is a public park located in the Washington Heights, Manhattan section of the New York City borough of Manhattan, USA. It is situated on a 67 acre ridge in Upper Manhattan, with a commanding view of the Hudson River, the George Washington Bridge, the New Jersey Palisades and the...

    , New York City
  • Franklin Park, Boston, Massachusetts


GHI

  • Genesee Valley Park
    Genesee Valley Park
    Genesee Valley Park is located south of Rochester, New York along the shores of the Genesee River. The New York State Barge Canal crosses the Genesee River within the park. The University of Rochester is located near the park's north entrance.-History:The park was formed from land first acquired...

    , Rochester, New York
    Rochester, New York
    Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. The Rochester metropolitan area is the second largest economy in New York State, behind the New York City metropolitan area. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and...

  • George Ward Park, Birmingham, Alabama
    Birmingham, Alabama
    Birmingham is the largest city in the state of Alabama in the United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County and includes part of Shelby County. According to a 2007 estimate, the city had a population of 229,800 The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, as of the 2008 census estimates,...

  • Glen Magna Farms
    Glen Magna Farms
    Glen Magna Farms is a historic country estate located at the end of Ingersoll Street, Danvers, Massachusetts. It is currently owned by the Danvers Historical Society and open daily. An admission donation is suggested...

    , Danvers, Massachusetts
    Danvers, Massachusetts
    Danvers is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts, Danvers is most widely known for its association with the 1692 Salem witch trials.-History:...

  • Grand Army Plaza
    Grand Army Plaza
    Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, New York is an 11-acre oval plaza that forms the main entrance to Prospect Park. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in 1867. It consists of concentric rings arranged as streets, with the outer ring being named Plaza Street...

    , Brooklyn, New York
  • Highland Park, Rochester, New York
  • Hubbard Park
    Hubbard Park
    Hubbard Park, located in the Hanging Hills of Connecticut, is a wooded, mountainous park located just north of downtown urban Meriden, Connecticut. It comprises approximately of carefully kept woodlands, streams, dramatic cliff faces, flower gardens, and the James Barry bandshell and picnic...

    , Meriden, Connecticut
    Meriden, Connecticut
    Meriden is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 59,653.- History :...

  • Humboldt Park
    Humboldt Park (Chicago park)
    Humboldt Park is a park located on the north side of Chicago, Illinois. It is a prominent part of the Humboldt Park community area.The park was named for Alexander von Humboldt, a German naturalist. William Le Baron Jenney began developing the park in the 1870s, molding a flat prairie landscape...

    , Chicago, Illinois
  • The Institute of Living
    The Institute of Living
    The Institute of Living is a mental health center in Hartford, Connecticut affiliated with Hartford Hospital. The hospital was built in 1823, and was opened to admissions in 1824. Eli Todd was its first director. The hospital cost $12,000 to build and could serve up to 40 patients at a time...

    , Hartford, Connecticut
    Hartford, Connecticut
    Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located in Hartford County on the Connecticut River, north of the center of the state, south of Springfield, Massachusetts. Its 2006 population of 124,512 ranks Hartford as the state's second-largest city, after Bridgeport. New...

    , 1860s

JKL

  • Jackson Park
    Jackson Park (Chicago)
    Jackson Park is a 500 acre park on Chicago's South Side, located at 6401 South Stony Island Avenue in the Woodlawn community area. It extends into the South Shore and Hyde Park community areas, bordering Lake Michigan and several South Side neighborhoods...

    , originally South Park, Chicago, Illinois
  • Kykuit
    Kykuit
    Kykuit, also known as John D. Rockefeller Estate, is a 40-room National Trust house in Westchester County, New York, built by the oil businessman, philanthropist and founder of the prominent Rockefeller family, John D. Rockefeller , and his son, John D...

     Gardens, Rockefeller family estate, Westchester, New York, from 1897
  • Lake Park
    Lake Park, Milwaukee
    Lake Park, located on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is an urban park covering 138.1 acres. The park is located just north of the Milwaukee Art Museum. Lake Park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed Central Park in New York City along with many others.Lake Park is home...

    , Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin and 23rd largest in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. Its estimated 2008 population was 604,477. Milwaukee is the main cultural and economic center of the...

  • Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition
    Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition
    The Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, commonly also known as the Lewis and Clark Exposition, and officially known as the Lewis and Clark Centennial American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair, was a worldwide exposition held in Portland, Oregon, United States in 1905 to celebrate the...

    , Portland, Oregon
    Portland, Oregon
    Portland is a city located in the Northwestern United States, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the state of Oregon. As of July 2008, it has an estimated population of 575,930, making it the 29th most populous in the United States. It has been referred to as the most...


MNO

  • Manor Park
    Manor Park, Larchmont
    Manor Park, in Larchmont, New York consists of about of land that lies along the Long Island Sound and Larchmont Harbor...

    , Larchmont, New York
    Larchmont, New York
    Larchmont is a village in Westchester County, New York. The population was 6,485 at the 2000 census. As a village, it is located within the town of Mamaroneck. It is located on the shore of the Long Island Sound, about eighteen miles from Midtown Manhattan...

  • Maplewood Park
    Maplewood Park
    Maplewood Park is a landscaped public park in Rochester, New York situated between Lake Avenue and the Genesee River. The two-mile park features many trails along the river gorge and the river bank below, scenic views of two waterfalls and a nationally accredited Rose Garden.The park was laid out...

    , Rochester, New York
  • Montebello Park, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Ontario
    Ontario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...

    , Canada
    Canada
    Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

     http://www.st.catharines.com/recreation/pt/montebello_park.asp
  • Morningside Park
    Morningside Park
    Morningside Park is a New York City public park in the northern portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan. The area occupies 110th to 123rd Streets from Morningside Avenue to Morningside Drive at the border between Harlem and Morningside Heights. Its distinctive natural geography is a...

    , New York City
  • Mount Royal Park, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, inaugurated in 1876
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, California
    Oakland, California
    Oakland is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of California and a major West Coast port city, located on San Francisco Bay about eight miles east of the City of San Francisco. Oakland is a major hub city for the Bay Area subregion collectively called the East Bay, and it is the county seat...

    , dedicated in 1865
  • Nay Aug Park
    Nay Aug Park
    Nay Aug Park is the largest park in Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. An amusement park on the site closed in the 1990s, but a small amusement area still operates near the swimming pool complex...

    , Scranton, Pennsylvania
    Scranton, Pennsylvania
    Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to figures released by the United States Census Bureau in 2000,...

  • New York State Hospital for the Insane, Buffalo, New York
    Buffalo, New York
    Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, second only to New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River, Buffalo is the principal city of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the seat of Erie...

  • Niagara Reservation (now Niagara Falls State Park
    Niagara Falls State Park
    Niagara Falls State Park is located in the City of Niagara Falls, New York in Niagara County. The park contains the American Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls, and part of the Canadian Falls....

    ), Niagara Falls, New York
    Niagara Falls, New York
    Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 55,593. It is across the Niagara River from Niagara Falls, Ontario , both named after the famed Niagara Falls which they share...

    , dedicated in 1885
  • North Park, Fall River, Massachusetts
    Fall River, Massachusetts
    Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located about south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and west of New Bedford and 12 miles south of Taunton. The city's population was 91,938 during the 2000 census, making it the eighth largest...

     (1901)
  • Ocean Parkway
    Ocean Parkway (Brooklyn)
    Ocean Parkway is a broad boulevard and associated neighborhood in the west central portion of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City.-Route description:...

    , Brooklyn, New York
  • Oyster Harbors
    Oyster Harbors
    Oyster Harbors is a gated community within the village of Osterville, Massachusetts. It is located on Grand Island.-History:Oyster Harbors was first inhabited by the Wampanoag tribe when they first settled on Cape Cod. In 1658 Oyster Island was reserved to the Indians, but after a expensive...

    , Osterville, Massachusetts


PQRS

  • various parks in Portland, Oregon
    Portland, Oregon
    Portland is a city located in the Northwestern United States, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the state of Oregon. As of July 2008, it has an estimated population of 575,930, making it the 29th most populous in the United States. It has been referred to as the most...

  • Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, California
  • Pinehurst, NC, ground broken in 1895
  • Presque Isle Park, Marquette, Michigan
  • Prospect Park
    Prospect Park (Brooklyn)
    Prospect Park is a 585-acre public park in the New York City borough of Brooklyn located between Park Slope, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Kensington, Windsor Terrace and Flatbush Avenue, Grand Army Plaza and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden...

    , Brooklyn, New York, finished 1868
  • Public Pleasure Grounds, San Francisco, California
    San Francisco, California
    San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 12th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated population of 808,976. It is the eighth most densely populated city in the U.S. and is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the larger San...

  • River Park (now Riverside Park), Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin and 23rd largest in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. Its estimated 2008 population was 604,477. Milwaukee is the main cultural and economic center of the...

  • Riverside Drive
    Riverside Drive (Manhattan)
    Riverside Drive is a scenic north-south thoroughfare in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The boulevard runs generally parallel to the Hudson River from 72nd Street to near the George Washington Bridge at 181st Street on the west side of Manhattan...

    , New York City
  • Riverside Park
    Riverside Park (Manhattan)
    Riverside Park is a scenic waterfront public park on the Upper West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The park consists of a narrow four-mile strip of land between the Hudson River and the gently...

    , Manhattan, New York
  • Village of Riverside, Riverside, Illinois
    Riverside, Illinois
    Riverside is an affluent suburban village in Cook County, Illinois, a significant portion of which is included in the Riverside Landscape Architecture District. The population was 8,895 at the 2000 census...

  • Ruggles Park
    Ruggles Park
    Ruggles Park is a historic park bounded by Seabury, Robeson, Pine, and Locust Streets in Fall River, Massachusetts.The park was built in 1868 and added to the National Historic Register in 1983....

    , Fall River, Massachusetts
  • Seaside Park, Bridgeport, Connecticut
    Bridgeport, Connecticut
    Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in and the former county seat of Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 137,912 in 2006 and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...

    , 1860s
  • Seneca Park, Rochester, New York
  • various parks in Seattle, Washington
    Seattle, Washington
    Seattle is located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Situated in the western part of Washington State on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about south of the Canada – United States border, it is named after Chief Sealth, of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes...

  • Shelburne Farms
    Shelburne Farms
    Shelburne Farms is a nonprofit environmental education center and National Historic Landmark on the shores of Lake Champlain in Shelburne, Vermont. It is also one of the principal concert sites for the Vermont Mozart Festival....

    , Shelbourne, VT
  • Smithsonian National Zoological Park
    Smithsonian National Zoological Park
    The Smithsonian National Zoological Park, commonly known as the National Zoo, is a zoo located in Washington, D.C. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums...

    , Washington, D.C.
    Washington, D.C.
    Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...

  • South Mountain Reservation
    South Mountain Reservation
    South Mountain Reservation covers 2,047.14 acres in central Essex County, New Jersey, in portions of Maplewood, and Millburn and West Orange, bordering South Orange, between the first and second ridges of the Watchung Mountains....

    , Essex County, New Jersey (done by successors, not by Olmsted senior)
  • South Park, (now Kennedy Park), Fall River, Massachusetts
  • Sudbrook Park
    Sudbrook Park
    Sudbrook Park is a historic neighborhood near Pikesville, Maryland located just northwest of the Baltimore City limits in Baltimore County.The community dates to 1889 when it was designed by American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. and developed by the Sudbrook Company...

    , Baltimore, Maryland
    Baltimore, Maryland
    Baltimore is an independent city and the largest city in the state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore City in order to distinguish it from surrounding...

    , 1889
  • Swampscott, Massachusetts
    Swampscott, Massachusetts
    Swampscott is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States located 12 miles up the coast from Boston. The population was 14,565 at the 2007 census. A former summer resort on Massachusetts Bay, Swampscott is today an affluent residential community which includes the village of Beach Bluff,...

     - Olmsted Subdivision Historic District
    Olmsted Subdivision Historic District
    Olmsted Subdivision Historic District is a historic district roughly bounded by New Ocean Paradise Rd., Swampscott Ave., Redington Rd. and Burrill Street in Swampscott, Massachusetts.It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002....


TUV

  • Tyler Park, Lowell, Massachusetts
    Lowell, Massachusetts
    Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 105,167. It is the fifth largest city in the state...

    . Smallest park Olmsted and associates designed
  • The Rockery
    The Rockery
    The Rockery, also known as the Memorial Cairn, is an unusual war memorial designed by the noted American landscaper Frederick Law Olmsted. It is located at the center of North Easton, Massachusetts, where it forms the focal point for two adjacent H. H...

    , Easton, Massachusetts
    Easton, Massachusetts
    Easton is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 22,299 at the 2000 census.Easton is governed by an elected committee of selectmen and a town administrator.- History :...

  • United States Capitol
    United States Capitol
    The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the Federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall. Though not in the geographic center of the District of...

     grounds, Washington D.C.
  • "the Uplands" residential park, Victoria, BC, Canada, 1907
  • Utah State Capitol
    Utah State Capitol
    The Utah State Capitol is located on Capitol Hill, overlooking downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the home of the Utah State Legislature, the Governor of Utah, Lieutenant Governor of Utah, the Utah Attorney General, the Utah State Treasurer, and the Utah State Auditor.Construction on the capitol...

     grounds masterplan, Salt Lake City, Utah
    Salt Lake City, Utah
    Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. Salt Lake City has a population of 181,698 as of July 1, 2008, making it the 125th largest city in the United States...

  • Thompson Park, Watertown NY
  • Town of Vandergrift, Pennsylvania
    Vandergrift, Pennsylvania
    Vandergrift is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately 40 miles east of Pittsburgh. Early in the 20th century, it had the largest sheet steel mill in the world. In July, 1915, the borough of Vandergrift Heights was consolidated with Vandergrift. In 1900, 2,076...

    , 1895
  • Vanderbilt Mausoleum, New York City

WXYZ

  • Walnut Hill Park, New Britain, Connecticut
    New Britain, Connecticut
    New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately 9 miles southwest of Hartford. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 71,254....

  • Washington Park, Albany, New York
    Albany, New York
    Albany is a city in the United States of America; it is the capital of the state of New York and the county seat of Albany County. Albany is roughly 136 miles north of the city of New York, and slightly south of the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. The city sits on the Hudson River and...

  • West Park Zoological Gardens (now Washington Park), Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin and 23rd largest in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. Its estimated 2008 population was 604,477. Milwaukee is the main cultural and economic center of the...

  • Woodburn Circle, West Virginia University
    West Virginia University
    West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...

    , Morgantown, West Virginia
    Morgantown, West Virginia
    Morgantown is a city in and the county seat of Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, on the banks of the Monongahela River. Part of the Pittsburgh Tri-State region, Morgantown is the largest city in North-Central West Virginia, and is the principal city of the Morgantown, West Virginia...

  • Wood Island Park, Boston, Massachusetts (taken by eminent domain in the 1960s to expand Logan International Airport).
  • World's Columbian Exposition
    World's Columbian Exposition
    The World's Columbian Exposition — also known as The Chicago World's Fair — was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World. Chicago bested New York City, Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, Missouri, for the honor of...

    , Chicago, Illinois, 1893
  • World's End, formerly the John Brewer
    John Brewer
    Bishop John Brewer was the fourth Roman Catholic Bishop of Lancaster, England.He was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Shrewsbury, where he became Auxiliary Bishop on 28 July 1971....

     Estate, Hingham, Massachusetts
    Hingham, Massachusetts
    Hingham is a town in Plymouth County on the South Shore of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The United States Census Bureau 2008 estimated population was 22,561...

    , 1889
  • Whitman Town Park, Whitman, Massachusetts
    Whitman, Massachusetts
    Whitman is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,882 at the 2000 census.The village of Auburnville is located at the southwest edge of Whitman.- History :...

    , circa 1875
  • Wright Brothers Hill Dayton, Ohio
    Dayton, Ohio
    Dayton is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 166,179 at the 2000 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 848,153 in the 2000 census. Dayton is the fourth largest...

    , 1938-1940

Olmsted in popular culture


In Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City
The Devil in the White City
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America is a 2004 non-fiction book by Erik Larson presented in a novelistic style...

, Olmsted is featured as one of the most important figures participating in the design of the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition — also known as The Chicago World's Fair — was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World. Chicago bested New York City, Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, Missouri, for the honor of...

. In the book, his personality and actions are given significant coverage. In addition, his importance in designing the fair is highlighted (e.g., his part in picking the geographic site and his bureaucratic involvement in planning the fair).

See also

  • Charles Loring Brace
    Charles Loring Brace
    Charles Loring Brace was a contributing philanthropist in the field of social reform...

  • Landscape architecture
    Landscape architecture
    Landscape architecture is a the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve socio-behavioural, environmental, and/or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the careful design of...

  • History of gardening
    History of gardening
    This entry concerns the history of ornamental gardening considered as an amenity of civilized life, as a vehicle for style, for conspicuous show and even an expression of philosophy....

  • Park
    Park
    A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment. It may consist of, rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas....


External links