Druid Hill Park

Druid Hill Park. An Olmstead Plan for Baltimore's Park System. At the turn of the twentieth century, Baltimore civic leaders determined that the nation's sixth largest city, about to grow even larger though annexation, deserved a "world class" park system. For the task they turned to the firm founded by the nation's foremost landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmstead, and continued by his sons, Frederick Jr. and John. , Frederick Law Olmstead Jr. took the lead on the plan for the Baltimore park system, submitting the impressive 120-page Report Upon the Development of Public Ground for Greater Baltimore in 1904., The report identified four types of parks for the system. Progress already had mad toward the first tow, but they should be expanded: , Multi-Purpose Parks, serving large parts of the City, with a mix of natural scenery and opportunities for outdoor activity. , Playgrounds and playfields, providing facilities for active recreation., The report also recommended two significant new features:, Stream Valley Parks, natural preserves to secure the City's distinctive north-south valleys as parkland; , Parkways, to connect the City's green spaces with park-like boulevards., Over the first half of the twentieth century the Olmstead firm continued to consult closely with the Park Commission to implement the 1904 recommendations and establish the footprint for Baltimore's modern system., "The Olmstead plan fostered a new reading of the landscape...[that] changed Baltimore's vision forever." Urban Geographer Sherry Olsson. Baltimore: The Building of an American City (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980), [Photo Captions] , Frederick Law Olmstead Jr. (1870-1957), principal author of the 1904 Report. He continued to be involved in Baltimore park planning for five decades. National Park Service, Frederick Law Olmstead National Historic Site, The wooded Mill Race path along the Gwynns Falls, a recommendation of the Olmsteds for the stream valley park. , The playground for Latrobe Park, designed by the Olmsteds to serve the needs of the densely-developed rowhouse neighborhoods of Locust Point-an early example of how the firm's work in Baltimore in the years after 1904 responded to the growing active recreation movement in the City., Map Accompanying the 1904 Olmsted Report: , -existing City parks , -Proposed parks, including projected annex area, The 1904 report recognized the value of the City's early-established Druid Hill and Patterson parks at the more recent addition of Clifton and Carroll parks. , Parkways, the report explained, "should be treated as far as possible like extension of the parks to bring them [parks] to the people and place them in touch with each other.", Securing the prominent stream valleys--the Gwynns Falls, Jones Falls, and Herring Run--as parks would preserve their "charming scenery" and protect them from overdevelopment as the City grew., To respond to the growing interest in active recreation, playgrounds for children and playfields for adults should be located throughout they City and accessible to all neighborhoods. (Latrobe Park's playground was an early example).