April 26th, 2022 marked the 200th anniversary of American landscape architect, author and conservationist, Frederick Law Olmsted’s birth. Perhaps no other landscape architect has had a greater influence on the American landscape than Olmsted who worked on countless public and private projects including Central Park in Manhattan, Boston’s Emerald Necklace, the U.S. Capitol Grounds in Washington, D.C. and Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.

Olmsted was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1822. In an early career in journalism, he traveled throughout the American South and Texas investigating and writing in opposition to the impacts of slavery. A visit to Birkenhead Park in England, considered one of the first publicly-funded civic parks in the world, inspired his commitment to the creation of public spaces for the public good.

At Fairstead, now the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, in Brookline, Massachusetts, Olmsted established the first full-scale landscape office in the country where he practiced until retiring in 1895. His sons, John Charles and Frederick Jr., assumed responsibility for the firm which remained a functioning landscape practice for over 100 years and executed approximately 6,000 commissions for landscapes across North America.

According to Olmsted Online, a project for the National Association for Olmsted Parks, approximately 150 projects were designed by the Olmsted Firm within the Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area. While many were for privately owned properties, notable public projects include Fort Devens, the Middlesex Fells Reservation, Mystic River Reservation, and parks in Winchendon, Arlington, and Malden, Massachusetts where the Olmsted firm is credited with 15 individual projects. These include the Converse Memorial Library, a National Historic Landmark where Olmsted, Sr. worked in collaboration with architect H.H. Richardson.

For more information about the Olmsted Bicentennial visit: Olmsted 200, Olmsted Now and Olmsted Bicentennial

Image: Sargent, John Singer. Frederick Law Olmsted. 1895. Courtesy of Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina.