99-685: The Charles River Reservation is a 17-mile-long (27 km) urban preserve and public recreation area located along the banks of the Charles River in Boston , Cambridge , Watertown , and Newton , Massachusetts . The reservation is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation . The portion of the reservation between the Charles River Dam and the Eliot Bridge
198-501: A "'grand promenade' was an 'essential feature of a metropolitan park'"; however, its formal symmetry, its style, although something of an aberration, was designed to be subordinate to the natural view surrounding it. Wealthy passengers were let from their carriages at its south end. The carriage would then drive around to the Terrace, which overlooked the Lake and Ramble to pick them up, saving them
297-441: A friend wrote: "Olmsted is in an unhappy, sick, sore mental state ... He works like a dog all day and sits up nearly all night ... works with steady, feverish intensity till four in the morning, sleeps on a sofa in his clothes, and breakfasts on strong coffee and pickles!!!" His overwork and lack of sleep led to his being in a perpetual state of irritability, which wore on the people with whom he worked: "Exhausted, ill and having lost
396-850: A highly meandering route, that doubles back on itself several times and travels through 23 cities and towns before reaching the Atlantic Ocean . The indigenous Massachusett named it Quinobequin , meaning "meandering" or "meandering still water". The Charles River is fed by approximately 80 streams and several major aquifers as it flows 80 miles (129 km), starting at Teresa Road just north of Echo Lake ( 42°12′54″N 71°30′52″W / 42.215°N 71.514444°W / 42.215; -71.514444 ) in Hopkinton, passing through 23 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts before emptying into Boston Harbor . Thirty-three lakes and ponds and 35 municipalities are entirely or partially part of
495-489: A more cultivated taste. Their children were Charlotte, Mary, Owen, Bertha, Ada, and Albert Olmsted. The Olmsted ancestors arrived in the early 1600s from Essex , England. When he was almost ready to enter Yale College at a young age, sumac poisoning weakened his eyes, so he abandoned college plans. After working as an apprentice seaman, merchant, and journalist, he settled on a 125 acres (51 ha) farm in January 1848 on
594-503: A patient at the McLean Hospital , for whose grounds he had submitted a design which was never executed. He remained there until he died in 1903. Drawing influences from English landscape and gardening, Olmsted emphasized design that encourages the full use of the naturally occurring features of a given space, its "genius"; the subordination of individual details to the whole so that decorative elements do not take precedence, but rather
693-604: A plan for Presque Isle Park in Marquette, Michigan , saying that it "should not be marred by the intrusion of artificial objects". After Olmsted's retirement and death, his sons John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. , continued the work of their firm, doing business as the Olmsted Brothers . The firm lasted until 1980. Many works by the Olmsted sons are mistakenly credited to Frederick Law Olmsted today. For instance,
792-697: A rowing and sculling locale, with many boathouses and the three-mile Head of the Charles Regatta , the world's largest long-distance rowing regatta. The major boathouses, starting up stream near Watertown, are Community Rowing, Inc. , housing competitive, recreational, and learning programs along with the Boston College Crew; Northeastern University's Henderson; Cambridge Boat Club; Newell , home of Harvard Men's Rowing; Weld , home of Harvard Women's Rowing; Riverside Boat Club; Boston University's DeWolfe; Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Pierce; and, in
891-507: A similar fashion for their private enjoyment, such as that of Frederick T. van Beuren Jr. in New Jersey. He is a descendant of a Dutch physician who settled in Manhattan in 1700 and whose family members became prominent property owners in the city and various other locations. Initially, that country estate was one of several self-sufficient retreats from Manhattan held by the family that included
990-719: A son Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (born July 24, 1870). Their first child, John Theodore Olmsted, was born on June 13, 1860, and died in infancy. In recognition of his services during the Civil War, Olmsted was elected a Third Class member of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) on May 2, 1888, and was assigned insignia number 6345. Olmsted's election to MOLLUS
1089-475: A soothing, restorative effect on the viewer. The picturesque style covered rocky, broken terrain teeming with shrubs and creepers, to express nature's richness. The picturesque style played with light and shade to lend the landscape a sense of mystery. Scenery was designed to enhance the sense of space: indistinct boundaries using plants, brush, and trees as opposed to sharp ones; the interplay of light and shadow close up, and blurred detail farther away. He employed
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#17328487726091188-512: A standard of excellence that continues to influence landscape architecture in the United States. He was an early and important activist in the conservation movement , including in his work at Niagara Falls, the Adirondack region of upstate New York, and the National Park system . As head of the U.S. Sanitary Commission , he also played a major role in organizing and providing medical services to
1287-460: A supporting farm for produce, livestock, and a livery as well as several houses for permanent staff. The estate later became a more permanent residence as van Beuren's career shifted to founding a hospital in the growing community nearby . At that time the shingled structure in New Vernon was renovated into a brick structure that is described as one of the notable mansions of the area. At the time of
1386-408: A vast expanse of greenery at the end of which would lie a grove of yellow poplar; a path that winds through a bit of landscape and intersects with others, dividing the terrain into triangular islands of successive new views. Subordination strove to use all objects and features in the service of the design and its intended effect. It can be seen in the subtle use of naturally occurring plants throughout
1485-599: A way to use the Charles to power mills. In 1639, the town dug a canal from the Charles to a nearby brook that drained to the Neponset River . By this action, a portion of the Charles's flow was diverted, providing enough current for several mills. The new canal and the brook together are now called Mother Brook . The canal is regarded as the first industrial canal in North America. It remains in use for flood control . Waltham
1584-553: Is common along the Charles. With catches from the Charles from Natick to Boston the public is advised not to eat carp , and for non-pregnant, non-nursing adults, to limit large mouth bass consumption to no more than twice a month. Children and pregnant or nursing women should eat nothing from the Charles River. Both cautions are due to PCB and pesticide contamination. Up river from Natick, similar advisories are in effect for all fish on account of mercury , chlordane , and DDT in
1683-579: Is home to a wide range of freshwater fish species and some diadromous species. There are over 25 species able to be found in the Charles and some of the most common freshwater fish include the Redfin Pickerel, Largemouth Bass, Golden Shiner, Yellow Perch, a variety of sunfish (such as Bluegills, Redbreast Sunfish, and Pumpkinseeds), and some species of catfish (Yellow Bullhead, Brown Bullhead, White Bullhead). The diadromous fish (fish that spend parts of their lives in fresh and salt water) that can be found in
1782-466: Is landscaped with plants that bloom at the time of the President's May birthday and a memorial fountain . The park, designed by Carol R. Johnson Associates of Boston, uses materials indigenous to New England including native trees, and the granite fountain and the entrance pillars are inscribed with quotations from the President's speeches. Riverbend Park extends on the north side of the Charles, from
1881-929: Is listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places . This includes the park in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston known as the Esplanade . The Charles River above the Watertown Dam is managed as the Upper Charles River Reservation . Features of the reservation include the Charles River Dam, the Charles River Basin, the Boston and Cambridge Esplanades , and John F. Kennedy Park. The 1978 Charles River Dam , located behind
1980-493: Is popular with runners and bikers. Many runners gauge their distance and speed by keeping track of the mileage between the bridges along the route. After two decades of water quality improvement efforts spearheaded by the Environmental Protection Agency, on July 13, 2013, swimming for the general public was officially permitted for the first time in more than 50 years. Fishing from the banks or small craft
2079-655: Is significant in that he was one of the few civilians elected to membership in an organization composed almost exclusively of military officers and their descendants. In 1891 he joined the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution by right of his descent from his grandfather Benjamin Olmsted who served in the 4th Connecticut Regiment in 1775. In 1895, senility forced Olmsted to retire. By 1898 he moved to Belmont, Massachusetts , and took up residence as
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#17328487726092178-525: Is the use of sunken roadways which traverse the park and are specifically dedicated to vehicles as opposed to the winding pathways designated specifically for pedestrians. An example of this mix of principles is seen in the Central Park Mall , a large promenade leading to the Bethesda Terrace, and the single formal feature in Olmsted and Vaux's original naturalistic design. The designers wrote that
2277-605: The 9 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (15 km) tidal estuary from Watertown Dam to Boston Harbor. From 1816 to 1968, the U.S. Army operated a gun and ammunition storage and later production facility known as the Watertown Arsenal . While it was key to many of the nation's war efforts over its several decades in operation, not the least of which being the American Civil War and World War I , its location in Watertown so near
2376-750: The American South and Texas from 1852 to 1857. His dispatches to the Times were collected into three volumes ( A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States (1856), A Journey Through Texas (1857), A Journey in the Back Country in the Winter of 1853–4 (1860). These are considered vivid first-person accounts of the antebellum South. A one-volume abridgment, Journeys and Explorations in the Cotton Kingdom (1861),
2475-732: The Charles River Speedway operated along part of the river. Today's Charles River basin between Boston and Cambridge is almost entirely a work of human design. Owen A. Galvin was appointed head of the Charles River Improvement Commission by Governor William E. Russell in 1891. Their work led to the design initiatives of noted landscape architects Charles Eliot and Arthur Shurcliff , both of whom had apprenticed with Frederick Law Olmsted and Guy Lowell . This designed landscape includes over 20 parks and natural areas along 19 miles (31 km) of shoreline, from
2574-565: The Eliot Bridge to Western Ave. in Cambridge. In 1974 Isabella Halsted (who lived on Memorial Drive) circulated a letter asking if neighbors would support closing the Drive to vehicles on Sundays from spring to fall. She may have been familiar with the closing of sections of Rock Creek Parkway in Washington, D.C. A portion of the drive was blocked off for the first time the following year. For nine years,
2673-689: The Environmental Protection Agency graded the river's 2017 bacterial water quality "A−". A study published in the Journal of the American Water Resources Association in April 2008 and completed by researchers at Northeastern University, found high concentrations of E. coli bacteria in the Charles River after a long period of no rain. Using a mathematical model , the researchers then determined that two major tributaries,
2772-971: The Grand Necklace of Parks in Milwaukee , Wisconsin ; Cherokee Park and parks and parkway system in Louisville, Kentucky ; Walnut Hill Park in New Britain, Connecticut ; the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina ; the master plans for the University of California, Berkeley , the University of Maine , Stanford University near Palo Alto, California , Mount Holyoke College , The Lawrenceville School ; and Montebello Park in St. Catharines , Ontario . In Chicago his projects include Jackson Park , Washington Park ,
2871-688: The Hatch Memorial Shell . Sailboat rentals are offered through the non-profit Community Boating, Inc . A quarter mile (400 meter) Braille trail is located in Watertown, near the foot of Irving Street. Charles River The Charles River ( Massachusett : Quinobequin ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles , is an 80-mile-long (129 km) river in eastern Massachusetts . It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along
2970-718: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology are located along the Charles River. Near its mouth, it forms the border between downtown Boston and Cambridge and Charlestown . The river opens into a broad basin and is lined by the parks of the Charles River Reservation . On the Charles River Esplanade stands the Hatch Shell , where concerts are given in summer evenings. The basin is especially known for its Independence Day celebration. The middle section of
3069-796: The Niagara Reservation in Niagara Falls, New York ; one of the first planned communities in the United States, Riverside, Illinois ; Mount Royal Park in Montreal , Quebec ; The Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut; Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut; Waterbury Hospital in Waterbury, Connecticut; the Emerald Necklace in Boston , Massachusetts ; Highland Park in Rochester, New York ;
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3168-626: The Panic of 1857 . Olmsted provided financial support for, and occasionally wrote for, the magazine The Nation , which was founded in 1865. "Olmsted spent much of his free time working without pay as an editorial assistant to [the magazine's first editor, Edwin L.] Godkin . It was a labor of love." Andrew Jackson Downing , the landscape architect from Newburgh, New York , was one of the first to propose developing New York City's Central Park in his role as publisher of The Horticulturist magazine. A friend and mentor to Olmsted, Downing introduced him to
3267-678: The Red Cross . He tended to the wounded during the American Civil War . In 1862, during Union General George B. McClellan 's Peninsula Campaign , he headed the medical effort for the sick and wounded at White House plantation in New Kent County , which had a boat landing on the Pamunkey River . He was one of the six founding members of the Union League Club of New York . He helped to recruit and outfit three African-American regiments of
3366-528: The Stony Brook and Muddy River , are the predominant sources of E. coli in the lower Charles River. Starting in 2007, the Charles River Swimming Club has organized an annual race for its members, but obtains a special permit and must monitor water quality and rainfall in the days leading up to the race. The "first public swim" in the Charles since the 1950s was conducted on July 13, 2013, by
3465-652: The TD Garden , controls the water level in the river basin. An earlier dam (see Charles River Dam Bridge ), located beneath the Museum of Science , was completed in 1910 with the purpose of creating a fresh water river basin and riverfront park in Boston and Cambridge. As part of the dam construction, fill was added between the Longfellow Bridge and Charlesgate and dedicated as the Boston Embankment, now universally known as
3564-618: The Union Army during the Civil War. Olmsted was born in Hartford, Connecticut , on April 26, 1822. His father, John Olmsted, was a prosperous merchant who took a lively interest in nature, people, and places; Frederick Law and his younger brother, John Hull Olmsted, also showed this interest. His mother, Charlotte Law (née Hull) Olmsted, died from an overdose before his fourth birthday in 1826. His father remarried in 1827 to Mary Ann Bull, who shared her husband's strong love of nature and had perhaps
3663-433: The United States Colored Troops in New York City. He contributed to organizing a Sanitary Fair , which raised one million dollars for the United States Sanitary Commission . He worked for the Sanitary Commission to the point of exhaustion: "Part of the problem was his need to maintain control over all aspects of the commission's work. He refused to delegate and he had an appetite for authority and power." By January 1863
3762-436: The University of Chicago , as well as the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, among many other projects. Olmsted was an important early leader of the conservation movement in the United States. An expert on California, he was likely one of the gentlemen "of fortune, of taste and of refinement" who proposed, through Senator John Conness, that Congress designate Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Big Tree Grove as public reserves. This
3861-438: The planned Chicago suburb of Riverside, Illinois ; the park system for Buffalo, New York ; Milwaukee 's grand necklace of parks; and the Niagara Reservation at Niagara Falls and Belle Isle in Detroit. Olmsted conceived of entire systems of parks and interconnecting parkways to connect certain cities to green spaces. Some of the best examples of the scale on which he worked are the park system designed for Buffalo, one of
3960-410: The tidal marshes and mud flats , the Charles River Basin was designed to provide a "water park" for city dwellers, with access to outstanding river scenery and recreational opportunities on both water and land. Though entirely designed—and in that sense artificial—the Basin is also a wildlife habitat for hundreds of animal and plant species that play a role in the ecology of the region and enrich
4059-426: The "barbarous names" for "English" ones. The Prince made many such changes, but only four survive today, one of which is the Charles River which Charles named for himself. The native name for the Charles River was Quinobequin , possibly meaning "meandering" in Massachusett from quinnuppe or "it turns." Other sources state this name was transferred from the Kennebec River in Maine to Cambridge by Prince Charles at
Charles River Reservation - Misplaced Pages Continue
4158-416: The 1620s, Captain John Smith of Jamestown explored and mapped the coast of New England, originally naming the Charles River the Massachusetts River, which he derived from the Massachusett people living in the region, not from their actual name for the river, Quinobequin . When Smith presented his map to Prince Charles, future King Charles I , he suggested that the Prince should feel free to change any of
4257-452: The 1880s, he was active in efforts to conserve the natural wonders of Niagara Falls , threatened with industrialization by the building of electrical power plants. At the same time, he campaigned to preserve the Adirondack region in upstate New York. He was one of the founders of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1898. Olmsted was also known to oppose park projects on conservationist grounds. In 1891, Olmsted refused to develop
4356-452: The 1960s, and the program to clean up the Charles for good took shape in 1965 with the creation of the Charles River Watershed Association. In 1978, a new Charles River Dam was constructed downstream from the Science Museum site to keep salt water out of the basin. In 1995, the United States Environmental Protection Agency declared a goal of making the river swimmable by 2005. In 1996, Governor William Weld plunged, fully clothed, into
4455-572: The Charles River drainage basin . Despite the river's length and relatively large drainage area (308 square miles; 798 km ), its source is only 26 miles (42 km) from its mouth, and the river drops only 350 feet (107 m) from source to sea. The Charles River watershed contains more than 8,000 acres (32 km ) of protected wetlands, referred to as Natural Valley Storage. These areas are important in preventing downstream flooding and providing natural habitats to native species. Harvard University , Brandeis University , Boston University , and
4554-455: The Charles River Basin. In the 1950s a highway, Storrow Drive , was built along the edge of the Esplanade to connect Charles Circle with Soldiers Field Road, and the Esplanade was enlarged on the water side of the new highway. The Inner Belt highway was proposed to cross the Charles River at the Boston University Bridge , but its construction was canceled in the 1970s. As sewage , industrial wastewater and urban runoff flowed freely into
4653-404: The Charles River Conservancy, Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA), Esplanade Association, and DCR. Both the annual race and the Conservancy event have been held in deep water with swimmers jumping in off a dock, to avoid the toxic sediments on the bottom of the river that still make beach swimming dangerous. Swimming without a permit is punishable by a fine up to $ 250. The Charles River
4752-425: The Charles River is often at its worst after a large rainfall because of pollutants carried by runoff, and sewage overflows. For 2011, the EPA reported that the Charles met state bacterial standards for boating and swimming 96% and 89% of the time on dry days, and 74% and 35% of the time on wet days, respectively. Overall boatability and swimability of 82% and 54% in 2011 compared with 39% and 19% in 1995. In June 2018,
4851-401: The Charles are mostly anadromous species (fish that migrate from sea to freshwater to spawn). These include the Alewife Herring, American Shad, White Perch, and Striped Bass. The only catadromous species (fish that migrate from freshwater to sea to spawn) in the Charles is the American Eel. With the many initiatives to improve the health of the river in the years since the formation of the CRWA,
4950-401: The Charles did great environmental harm. The arsenal was declared a Super Fund site, and after its closure by the government it had to be cleaned at significant expense before it could be safely used again for other purposes. Likewise, the many factories and mills along the banks of the Charles supported a buoyant economy in their time but left a legacy of massive pollution. For several years,
5049-419: The Charles near the Museum of Science and river tour boat excursions depart from a lagoon near the museum. In early June, the Hong Kong Boston Dragon Boat Festival is held in Cambridge , near the Weeks Footbridge . The Charles River Bike Path runs 23 miles (37 km) along the banks of the Charles, starting at the Museum of Science and passing the campuses of MIT, Harvard and Boston University. The path
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#17328487726095148-402: The English-born architect Calvert Vaux , whom Downing had brought to the U.S. as his architectural collaborator. After Downing died in July 1852 in a widely publicized fire on the Hudson River steamboat Henry Clay , Olmsted and Vaux entered the Central Park design competition together, against Egbert Ludovicus Viele among others. Vaux had invited the less experienced Olmsted to participate in
5247-426: The Esplanade. The modern dam houses six pumps that provide flood control protection. The dam's lock system permits travel of recreational and commercial vessels from the river to the harbor year round. A fish passage allows for passage of anadromous fish ( alewife , rainbow smelt and shad ) during the migration season in late spring. Created in 1910 by damming the formerly tidal river and permanently flooding
5346-478: The Lower Basin, Union Boat Club. The Lower Basin between the Longfellow and Harvard (Massachusetts Avenue) bridges has the sailing docks of Community Boating , the Harvard University Sailing Center, and the MIT Sailing Pavilion. Sailboat, kayak, and paddleboard rentals are available at the Boston University Sailing Pavilion. Charles River Canoe and Kayak has four locations along the Charles, renting kayaks, canoes, and paddleboards. Duck Boats regularly enter
5445-408: The MIT Sea Grant College Program and the Charles River Alliance of Boaters (CRAB). Online and hardcopy charts are available as a public service. The river is busy, apart from the winter months, with rowing , sculling , canoeing , kayaking , paddleboarding , dragonboating , and sailing , both recreational and competitive. Most of the watercraft activity occurs from the Museum of Science to
5544-472: The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , targeted American Shad as a species to revive in the river's ecosystem. In the years from 2006 to 2011, the river was stocked with millions of shad fry. Research showed that these shad were in fact returning to the river to spawn, a testament to the improved health of the river. Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903)
5643-448: The Middle Basin, from the BU Bridge to Herter Park, and the Upper Basin, from Herter Park to the Watertown Dam. The Lower Basin is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long and up to 2,000 feet (610 m) wide. The panoramas in the Lower Basin define the image of Boston and Cambridge. The Longfellow Bridge is a powerful presence in the Lower Basin, as are the slope of Beacon Hill and the gold dome of the State House . Particular park sections within
5742-420: The New Dam at the Charlestown Bridge to the dam near Watertown Square. Eliot first envisioned today's river design in the 1890s, an important model being the layout of the Alster basin in Hamburg , but major construction began only after Eliot's death with the damming of the river's mouth at today's Boston Museum of Science , an effort led by James Jackson Storrow . The new dam, completed in 1910, stabilized
5841-407: The Olmsted Brothers firm did a park plan for Portland, Maine , in 1905, creating a series of connecting parkways between existing parks and suggesting improvements to those parks. The oldest of these parks, Deering Oaks, had been designed by City Engineer William Goodwin in 1879 but is today frequently described as a Frederick Law Olmsted-designed park. A residence hall at the University of Hartford
5940-401: The center of Watertown , above which is a dam. These 17 miles (27 km) see motorboat traffic from two marinas and a boat ramp near Watertown, as well as two marinas downstream and boats entering from Boston Harbor through an old lock next to the Museum of Science. A canoe and kayak ADA-accessible launch at Magazine Beach in Cambridge opened 23 September 2019. The Charles is renowned as
6039-428: The common comforts and consolations of civilized life. Their destitution is not material only; it is intellectual and it is moral ... They were neither generous nor hospitable and their talk was not that of evenly courageous men. Between his travels in Europe and the South, Olmsted served as an editor for Putnam's Magazine for two years and as an agent with Dix, Edwards and Co., before the company's insolvency during
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#17328487726096138-432: The cotton monopoly in some way did them more harm than good; and although the written narration of what I saw was not intended to set this forth, upon reviewing it for the present publication, I find the impression has become a conviction. He argued that slavery had made the slave states inefficient (a set amount of work took 4 times as long in Virginia as in the North) and backward both economically and socially. He said that
6237-493: The design competition with him, having been impressed with Olmsted's theories and political contacts. Prior to this, in contrast with the more experienced Vaux, Olmsted had never designed or executed a landscape design. Their Greensward Plan was announced in 1858 as the winning design. 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
6336-402: The experience of urban park users. Water quality in the once heavily polluted Basin has improved dramatically in recent years, creating better habitat for wildlife and attracting people back to the river. The character of the Basin changes along this 8.5-mile (13.7 km) stretch, forming three discernible zones: the Lower Basin, from the 1910 Charles River Dam to the Boston University Bridge ;
6435-414: The fish. Long before European settlers named and shaped the Charles, Native Americans living in New England made the river a central part of their lives. At the time of European colonization in the early 1600s, settlements of Massachusett people were present along the river at Nonantum in current-day Newton and Pigsgusset in current-day Watertown . Prior to the arrival of Puritan colonists in
6534-478: The grounds for the Hudson River State Hospital for the Insane in Poughkeepsie . In 1883, Olmsted established what is considered to be the first full-time landscape architecture firm in Brookline, Massachusetts . He called the home and office compound Fairsted . It is now the restored Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site . From there Olmsted designed Boston's Emerald Necklace , the campuses of Wellesley College , Smith College , Stanford University and
6633-407: The health and variety of fish in the river have greatly improved. One example of this is the reintroduction of American Shad into the Charles. American Shad used to be one of the most common species in the river until the 1800s when population numbers decreased because of new dams and poor water quality. With improved water quality and partial dam breaches created in modern times, the CRWA, along with
6732-456: The land were strangely unused, or were used with poor economy.' He thought that the lack of a Southern white middle class and the general poverty of lower-class whites prevented the development of many civil amenities that were taken for granted in the North. The citizens of the cotton States, as a whole, are poor. They work little, and that little, badly; they earn little, they sell little; they buy little, and they have little – very little – of
6831-475: The landscape was not in any one individual waterfall, cliff, or tree, but in the "miles of scenery where cliffs of awful height and rocks of vast magnitude and of varied and exquisite coloring, are banked and fringed and draped and shadowed by the tender foliage of noble and lovely trees and bushes, reflected from the most placid pools, and associated with the most tranquil meadows, the most playful streams, and every variety of soft and peaceful pastoral beauty". In
6930-451: The largest projects; the system he designed for Milwaukee, and the park system designed for Louisville, Kentucky , which was one of only four completed Olmsted-designed park systems in the world. Olmsted was a frequent collaborator with architect Henry Hobson Richardson , for whom he devised the landscaping schemes for half a dozen projects, including Richardson's commission for the Buffalo State Asylum . In 1871, Olmsted and Vaux designed
7029-443: The little long pond"), and Quinnipiac River ("long pond") in present-day Massachusetts , Connecticut , and New Hampshire . As native populations were driven out by European settlers, the Charles River became an early center for hydropower and manufacturing in North America. Although in portions of its length, the Charles drops slowly in elevation and has relatively little current, early settlers in Dedham, Massachusetts , found
7128-728: The main park ground for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition , the southern portion of Chicago's emerald necklace boulevard ring , and the University of Chicago campus. In Washington, D.C. , he worked on the landscape surrounding the United States Capitol building. The quality of Olmsted's landscape architecture was recognized by his contemporaries, who showered him with prestigious commissions. Daniel Burnham said of him, "He paints with lakes and wooded slopes; with lawns and banks and forest-covered hills; with mountainsides and ocean views...." His work, especially in Central Park, set
7227-408: The park. Non-native species planted for the sake of their own uniqueness was seen as defeating the purpose of design, as that very uniqueness would draw attention to itself where the intention is to enable relaxation: utility above all else was an objective. Separation applied to areas designed in different styles and different uses enhancing safety and reducing distraction. A key feature of Central Park
7326-451: The preeminent landscape architecture and planning consultancy of the late 19th-century United States, which was carried on and expanded by his sons, Frederick Jr. and John C., under the name Olmsted Brothers . Other projects that Olmsted was involved in include the country's first and oldest coordinated system of public parks and parkways in Buffalo, New York ; the country's oldest state park,
7425-493: The private Trust for Riverbend Park raised funds to cover the cost of the road closing. In 1985 the state legislature authorized and funded the permanent closing of the road from April to November. The reservation's multiple recreational opportunities include cycling on the Charles River Bike Paths , motorized and non-motorized boating, playgrounds, picnicking, swimming pools, tennis courts, ice skating, and concerts at
7524-420: The profits of slavery were enjoyed by no more than 8,000 owners of large plantations; a somewhat larger group had about the standard of living of a New York City policeman, but the proportion of the free white men who were as well-off as a Northern working man was small. Slavery meant that 'the proportion of men improving their condition was much less than in any Northern community; and that the natural resources of
7623-480: The reservation, such as Magazine Beach and Herter Park, provide intensely used open space for the bordering urban neighborhoods. The Middle Basin is a zone of transition from urban and formal to rural and more natural. Parkways lining the Charles River Basin separate the esplanades in Boston and Cambridge from the nearby neighborhoods. The largest open space is between the Harvard University athletic fields on
7722-665: The river between the Watertown Dam and Wellesley is partially protected by the properties of the Upper Charles River Reservation and other state parks, including the Hemlock Gorge Reservation , Cutler Park , and the Elm Bank Reservation . A detailed depth chart of the lower basin of the Charles River, from near the Watertown Dam to the New Charles River Dam , has been created by a partnership between
7821-490: The river from the surrounding city, the Charles River became well known for its high level of pollutants , gaining such notoriety that by 1955, Bernard DeVoto wrote in Harper's Magazine that the Charles was "foul and noisome, polluted by offal and industrious wastes, scummy with oil, unlikely to be mistaken for water." Fish kills and submerged vehicles were a common sight, along with toxic chemical plumes that colored parts of
7920-456: The river pink and orange. The Standells sang about the sorry state of the Charles in their 1965 song " Dirty Water ". Once popular with swimmers, awareness of the river's high pollution levels forced the state to shut down several popular swimming areas, including Cambridge's Magazine Beach and Gerry Landing public beaches. Efforts to clean up the river and restore it to a state where swimming and fishing would be acceptable began as early as
8019-647: The river to prove his commitment to cleaning up the river. On November 12, 2004, Christopher Swain became the first person to swim the Charles River's entire length, in an effort to raise public awareness of the river's environmental health. In July 2007, the river hosted the Charles River Masters Swim Race, the first sanctioned race in the Charles in over five decades. A combination of public and private initiatives helped drastically lower levels of pollutants by focusing on eliminating combined sewer overflows and stormwater runoff . Since Weld's stunt,
8118-525: The river's condition has improved dramatically, although it was not deemed entirely swimmable by 2005. The Conservation Law Foundation opposes the permit given to Mirant for the Veolia Energy North America Kendall Cogeneration Station , an electricity plant near Kendall Square , charging that the water it releases causes blooms of hazardous microorganisms because of its warm temperature. The water quality of
8217-612: The south and Mount Auburn and Cambridge cemeteries on the north. Together, these areas form a critical oasis for migrating birds. Frederick Law Olmsted 's 1889 design for Charlesbank created the first public space along the river. It included a promenade along the water's edge, as well as the first public outdoor gymnasiums in the United States, one for women and girls near the Longfellow Bridge and one for men and boys near Leverett Street (now Leverett Circle). The 5-acre (2.0 ha) John F. Kennedy Park located near Harvard Square
8316-420: The south shore of Staten Island . His father helped him acquire this farm, and he renamed it from Akerly Homestead to Tosomock Farm . It was later renamed "The Woods of Arden" by owner Erastus Wiman . The house in which Olmsted lived still stands at 4515 Hylan Boulevard , near Woods of Arden Road. Olmsted had a significant career in journalism. In 1850 he traveled to England to visit public gardens, where he
8415-542: The support of the men who put him in charge, Olmsted resigned on Sept. 1, 1863." Yet within a month he was on his way to California. In 1863, Olmsted went west to become the manager of the newly established Rancho Las Mariposas–Mariposa gold mining estate in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California . The estate had been sold by John C. Fremont to New York banker, Morris Ketchum , in January of that same year. The mine
8514-561: The time he renamed this river in his name. Still another explanation is that Quinobequin was a descriptive term for any long body of water for Eastern Algonquin peoples, which European explorers and settlers interpreted as a local proper name. Examples include the Kennebec River ("long water place") and Kennebunk in Maine , the Quinebaug River ("long pond"), Quinapoxet River ("at
8613-407: The trouble of needing to double back on foot. The Promenade was lined with slender elms and offered views of Sheep Meadow. Affluent New Yorkers, who rarely walked through the park, mixed with the less well-to-do in the Terrace areas, and all enjoyed an escape from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding city. However, the most wealthy among them employed the firm to landscape their country estates in
8712-556: The water level from Boston to Watertown, eliminating the existing mud flats, and a narrow embankment was built between Leverett Circle and Charlesgate. After Storrow's death, his widow Mrs. James Jackson Storrow donated $ 1 million toward the creation of a more generously landscaped park along the Esplanade; it was dedicated in 1936 as the Storrow Memorial Embankment. This also enabled the construction of many public docks in
8811-517: The whole space is enhanced; concealment of design, design that does not call attention to itself; design that works on the unconscious to produce relaxation; and utility or purpose over ornamentation. A bridge, a pathway, a tree, a pasture: any and all elements are brought together to produce a particular effect. Olmsted designed primarily in pastoral and picturesque styles, each to achieve a particular effect. The pastoral style featured vast expanses of green with small lakes, trees, and groves and produced
8910-414: The widow of his brother John, who died in 1857. Daniel Fawcett Tiemann , the mayor of New York, officiated the wedding. Olmsted adopted Mary's three children (his nephews and niece), John Charles Olmsted (born 1852), Charlotte Olmsted (born 1855), and Owen Frederick Olmsted (born 1857). Frederick and Mary also had two children together who survived infancy: a daughter, Marion (born October 28, 1861), and
9009-754: Was an American landscape architect , journalist, social critic , and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the United States. Olmsted was famous for co-designing many well-known urban parks with his partner Calvert Vaux . Olmsted and Vaux's first project was Central Park in New York City, which led to many other urban park designs. These included Prospect Park in Brooklyn ; Cadwalader Park in Trenton, New Jersey ; and Forest Park in Portland, Oregon . In 1883, Olmsted established
9108-544: 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 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, and
9207-541: Was greatly impressed by Joseph Paxton 's Birkenhead Park . He subsequently wrote and published Walks and Talks of an American Farmer in England in 1852. This supported his getting additional work. His visit to Birkenhead Park inspired his later contribution to the design of Central Park in New York City. Interested in the slave economy, he was commissioned by the New York Daily Times (now The New York Times ) to embark on an extensive research journey through
9306-630: Was named in his honor. Olmsted Point , located in Yosemite National Park , was named after Olmsted and his son Frederick. The Olmsted Center located in Queens, NY pays an homage to Frederick Law Olmsted. The Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site is located in Brookline, Massachusetts in his former home. Olmsted is known as the "father of American Landscape Architecture ". On June 13, 1859, Olmsted married Mary Cleveland (Perkins) Olmsted,
9405-415: Was published in England during the first six months of the American Civil War , at the suggestion of Olmsted's English publisher. To this, he wrote a new introduction (on "The Present Crisis"). He stated his views on the effect of slavery on the economy and social conditions of the southern states: My own observation of the real condition of the people of our Slave States, gave me ... an impression that
9504-447: Was the first land set aside by Congress for public use. Olmsted served a one-year appointment on the Board of Commissioner of the state reserve, and his 1865 report to Congress on the board's recommendations laid an ethical framework for the government to reserve public lands, to protect their "value to posterity". He described the "sublime" and "stately" landscape, emphasizing that the value of
9603-472: Was the site of the first fully integrated textile factory in America, built by Francis Cabot Lowell in 1814, and by the 19th century the Charles River was one of the most industrialized areas in the United States. Its hydropower soon fueled many mills and factories. By the century's end, 20 dams had been built across the river, mostly to generate power for industry. An 1875 government report listed 43 mills along
9702-403: Was to be defended against private encroachment. This principle is now fundamental to the idea of a "public park", but was not assumed as necessary then. Olmsted's tenure as Central Park commissioner was a long struggle to preserve that idea. In 1861, Olmsted took leave as director of Central Park to work in Washington, D.C., as Executive Secretary of the U.S. Sanitary Commission , a precursor to
9801-484: Was unsuccessful. "By 1865, the Mariposa Company was bankrupt, Olmsted returned to New York, and the land and mines were sold at a sheriff's sale." In 1865, he was appointed to the first board of commissioners for managing the newly established Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove land grants. In 1865, he and Vaux formed Olmsted, Vaux & Co. When Olmsted returned to New York, he and Vaux designed Prospect Park ;
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