Frederick Law Olmsted

Frederick Law Olmsted was one of the country's premiere landscape designers, best known as the architect of New York City’s Central Park. He had a lifelong interest in landscape design, traveling extensively to study the formal gardens of Europe and writing books about the role of landscape architecture in civilization. Olmsted was also a vocal abolitionist. He toured the South just prior to the Civil War, calling on President Lincoln to stop the spread of slavery to the western territories. Later in life, Olmsted moved to Boston, where he opened the first professional practice focused on landscape design. The Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site houses artifacts of his life, his writings, and his work.