olmsted’s parks make baltimore wild

In the age of the 19th century Industrial Revolution, creature comforts were hard to come by. 

Victorian clothing was cumbersome. Interior spaces lacked air conditioning. The majority of residences had no backyards. If you were lucky, tranquility could be found by sitting under shady trees or walking along stream beds. 

The golden age of American landscape architecture happened at a time when a quick respite from urban life was needed. Just a generation earlier, American society had gone through the turmoil of the civil war. 

When Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) began developing and designing public parks, they were seen as luxuries that were only available to the rich. Today, parks are easily accessible and seen by many as places to improve your physical and mental health.

Olmsted’s parks in Baltimore bring about that same feeling of escape and tranquility. They’re places where you can unplug for a while that are separated from the bustle of the city. The wildness of the parks makes you feel like you’ve stepped into another world outside of technology and hustle culture.

Keep reading to learn more about Olmsted’s impact on the Baltimore community.

olmsted’s design philosophies

Olmsted’s interest in nature and creating public parks was influenced not only by his childhood, but by the Civil War. The horrors of the Civil War made him eager to create parks that provided serenity and promoted community.

At the time, most parks were private and not easily accessible. Olmsted sought to change this and viewed parks as an essential part of urban infrastructure. He also believed parks and landscapes were critical to maintaining democracy and improving public health.

Olmsted supported the concept of “garden suburbs,” where people lived in harmony with nature. He always designed parks to complement the natural topography, creating walkways that followed the contours of the land and preserving an area’s natural trees and plants.

It was very important to him to nurture a sense of community and ownership among residents. He wanted people to participate in the preservation of their parks, which is continued today by activities like having communities paint their own murals, etc.

olmsted and central park

Olmsted’s first major project was developing the Greensward Plan, which eventually became Central Park in New York.

Originally, the plan was going to be developed by Andrew Jackson Downing, a landscape architect in New York, but he died in 1852. Olmsted started developing the Greensward Plan with Calvert Vaux, heavily influenced by Downing’s ideas. They entered it into a design competition and won first place in 1858.

They then started developing the park and continued their partnership to design Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York as well.

olmsted parks in baltimore

Olmsted consulted on several parks in Baltimore between the 1870s and 1890s. 

During the early 1900s, his son, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. (1870-1957) served as the landscape architect for communities developed by the Roland Park Company. Olmsted worked on the Roland Park, Guilford, and Homeland neighborhoods, designing communities that respected the local terrain and focused on combining a sense of privacy melded with the natural surroundings.

Some of Olmsted’s parks in Baltimore include the following:

sunken park

Sunken Park is a small Olmstead park located in Guilford. It can be spotted via its entrance, which is marked by two Greek-style columns. From the outside, it looks as though you’re about to step into a fantasy portal, and you definitely won’t be disappointed when you step through.

After entering the park through the columns, you’ll get even more of that “magical” vibe as you walk down the stone steps to the trails and clearing. The trails are designed to mesh with the natural landscape and are made wilder than the surrounding city with big trees hanging over the walkways.

The center of the park is a perfect place to have a picnic or bring your kids to play. If you’re lucky enough to be the only ones there, it’ll feel like your own private oasis. 

This park’s name is a perfect description for how it fits into the Baltimore landscape, but it’s not the only Olmsted park in Baltimore designed this way.

Many of the firm’s other parks are “sunken” and hidden on street level.

The sunken design amplifies the feeling of being separated from society and modern life.

wyman park dell

This 16-acre park was gifted to Baltimore by Johns Hopkins University after the Wyman family donated it to them.

In 1904, the Olmsted Brothers advised the city to use the majority of the land as a stream and valley reserve, which extended the park to link Druid Hill Park via the Gwynn Falls Parkway.

The Stony Run stream determined the shape of the park, which is a very popular location for people looking to live in Baltimore.

Like Sunken Park, Wyman Park Dell is almost hidden from the rest of the city.

Driving past, it would be easy to miss and can be hard to see from the road.

This type of isolation allows Wyman Park Dell  to maintain its sense of relaxation, which is one of Olmsted’s guiding design principles.

Whereas Olmsted’s parks provided a break from the overwhelm of industrial life when he built them, today the parks allow people to step away from technology and information overload.

the olmsted legacy in baltimore

Olmsted neighborhoods such as Roland Park have mature landscaping, tree-lined streets, and walking trails. There are numerous opportunities to briefly lose yourself in nature. Streets bend into meandering paths, houses are set back against the terrain. 

It’s the type of luxury that takes 50+ years of quality tree growth to achieve, and it’s something you won’t find in most suburban subdivisions. 

Earlier housing examples in Baltimore include the Federal row house. Spend anytime in the city and you’ll encounter miles of brick rowhouses, with not a lot of trees to break up the hard surfaces. These early rowhouse developments offered multi-generational affordable housing, but not a lot of green space. 

The counter balance to the federal row houses are the community parks. This was true then and now for city residents and their beloved dogs.  

The legacy of the Olmsteds, father and son, lives on, quietly elevating the city of Baltimore.