Last updated: June 8, 2024
Place
Morningside Park
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
Location:
New York City, NY
Significance:
Olmsted Designed Park
MANAGED BY:
After having such a tumultuous relationship with Central Park’s Comptroller Andrew Haswell Green, it’s interesting that Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux would be so willing to work with Green again. However, differences were put aside to give New York City another park, though it wasn’t easy going.
Andrew Haswell Green conceived the idea for Morningside Park in 1867, and four years later a plan proposal was submitted by New York Parks Engineer-in-Chief M.A. Kellogg, though it was rejected. In 1973, Olmsted and Vaux submitted their plan, but that was also rejected. Seven years later, architect Jacob Wrey Mould, who had also worked on Central Park, was hired to rework Olmsted and Vaux’s original plan.
Fourteen years after their original proposal was rejected, and one year after Mould’s 1886 death, Olmsted and Vaux were once again hired to develop Morningside Park. Their second plan included expansive lawns, dense plantings of trees, and meandering paths- all meant to enhance the area’s natural beauty.
Despite his death, even some of Mould’s designs were included, like the monumental entrance to Morningside Park. Old plans were also recycled in 1998 for the construction of the Kiel Arboretum, which was modeled on an 1858 Olmsted and Vaux design for Central Park that was never implemented.
Source: "Morningside Park," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Olmsted Online
Andrew Haswell Green conceived the idea for Morningside Park in 1867, and four years later a plan proposal was submitted by New York Parks Engineer-in-Chief M.A. Kellogg, though it was rejected. In 1973, Olmsted and Vaux submitted their plan, but that was also rejected. Seven years later, architect Jacob Wrey Mould, who had also worked on Central Park, was hired to rework Olmsted and Vaux’s original plan.
Fourteen years after their original proposal was rejected, and one year after Mould’s 1886 death, Olmsted and Vaux were once again hired to develop Morningside Park. Their second plan included expansive lawns, dense plantings of trees, and meandering paths- all meant to enhance the area’s natural beauty.
Despite his death, even some of Mould’s designs were included, like the monumental entrance to Morningside Park. Old plans were also recycled in 1998 for the construction of the Kiel Arboretum, which was modeled on an 1858 Olmsted and Vaux design for Central Park that was never implemented.
Source: "Morningside Park," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Olmsted Online