Last updated: June 5, 2024
Place
Bushnell Park
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
In 1853 Reverend Horace Bushnell, motivated to improve access to nature for the city’s poor working class, persuaded the Hartford City Council to acquire the land to create a park. In November of that year the Council voted unanimously to spend $105,000 to buy the land that would become Bushnell Park. When Hartford voters approved the spending, it was the first time in the United States that a municipal park was to be conceived, built, and paid for by citizens through a popular vote.
Frederick Law Olmsted would have been a logical choice on who to lead this project, with his local roots and a lifelong friendship with Bushnell. Olmsted would recommend Jacob Weidenmann, a Swiss-born landscape architect and botanist, to design and build the park. Weidenmann’s 1861 plan had a distinctive natural style, featuring smoothly sculpted contours and graceful paths, as well as informal clusters of evergreen and deciduous trees.
After Weidenmann’s death, John Charles Olmsted took over advising at Bushnell Park, where he improved drives, terrace alignment, plantings, and various monument placement. After John Charles’ death, Olmsted Brothers continued working on Bushnell Park, with Edward Whiting and James Dawson taking over. Olmsted Brothers would continue work at Bushnell Park until 1947, where they would address regrading the site so a pond could be constructed.
Source: "Bushnell Park," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Frederick Law Olmsted would have been a logical choice on who to lead this project, with his local roots and a lifelong friendship with Bushnell. Olmsted would recommend Jacob Weidenmann, a Swiss-born landscape architect and botanist, to design and build the park. Weidenmann’s 1861 plan had a distinctive natural style, featuring smoothly sculpted contours and graceful paths, as well as informal clusters of evergreen and deciduous trees.
After Weidenmann’s death, John Charles Olmsted took over advising at Bushnell Park, where he improved drives, terrace alignment, plantings, and various monument placement. After John Charles’ death, Olmsted Brothers continued working on Bushnell Park, with Edward Whiting and James Dawson taking over. Olmsted Brothers would continue work at Bushnell Park until 1947, where they would address regrading the site so a pond could be constructed.
Source: "Bushnell Park," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr