Last updated: June 20, 2024
Place
Hartford Insane Asylum
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
Location:
Hartford, CT
Significance:
Olmsted Designed Landscape
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
Originally known as the Hartford Retreat for the Insane, it was one of the first of several asylums Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. would design. Working with Calvert Vaux in 1860, the pair created a plan that would transform the grounds into an open and pleasant meadow where patients could spend time outdoors, which Olmsted saw as some of the best medicine. The plan to transform the 37-acres received plenty of support and was adopted without alteration.
However, the plan was not immediately implemented until funding was secured, and by that point, Olmsted was working for the United States Sanitary Commission. A frequent Olmsted collaborator, Jacob Weidenmann, was hired as superintendent of the site in 1863 to oversee the development of the Olmsted & Vaux plan. Today, the grounds continue to provide open space for patients, as Olmsted intended.
Source: "Hartford Insane Asylum" Olmsted Online
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
However, the plan was not immediately implemented until funding was secured, and by that point, Olmsted was working for the United States Sanitary Commission. A frequent Olmsted collaborator, Jacob Weidenmann, was hired as superintendent of the site in 1863 to oversee the development of the Olmsted & Vaux plan. Today, the grounds continue to provide open space for patients, as Olmsted intended.
Source: "Hartford Insane Asylum" Olmsted Online
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr