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Have you visited Fairsted's elm yet? Planted on April 26, 2013, Fairsted's new elm is waiting for you to stop by and say "hi." Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site (Olmsted NHS) welcomed a new elm into the landscape, marking a significant day in our history, as the new elm replaced the recently removed Olmsted Elm. Read more about the story below: What was the Olmsted Elm? What happened to the Olmsted Elm? Why did you choose this new elm? How is the new elm related to the Olmsted firm? What was the Olmsted Elm? From the early 19th century until 2011, a graceful, vase-shaped elm stood on this Brookline landscape. After the Olmsted family purchased the property in 1883, the tree became an essential component of the design of the South Lawn developed by Frederick Law Olmsted and his son John Charles Olmsted. It came to be known as the "Olmsted Elm." Elm trees were very often key features in Olmsted’s designs. The connection to elms is deeply rooted in Olmsted’s own family history. The name Olmsted is loosely derived from Elmsted, meaning place of the elms. Also, the Olmsted family history includes stories about elm trees. One day I was lying with my head between the roots of a lofty elm, looking up at its swaying boughs and leafage, when he came out of the house and hobbled toward me. It must have been a Sunday or holiday, for he was dressed in his best. His best, although he was in straitened circumstances was finer than anything we see now. Ruffles on his bosom and wrists; small clothes, stockings and silver buckled shoes; a long silver headed Malacca cane as a walking stick in his hands (I have it now), his gray hair in a queue with a bow of broad black ribband at the end. There was an old cocked hat in the garret with a quadrant, charts, bunting, and small matters of cabin furniture. He wore a hate of the then common fashion of real beaver fur. I rose as he approached and he asked, looking up, did I not think it a fine tree? Then he told me that he himself had planted this tree when a boy. Others near by he had helped to plant, but this one was all his own, and he described to me how he had dug it in the swamp and had brought it on his shoulder and been allowed to plant it all by himself. It came to me after a time as he went on talking about it that there had been nothing in all his long life of which he was so frankly proud and in which he took such complete pleasure as the planting and the beautiful growth of this tree. Olmsted Biography...As in Olmsted Papers The “Olmsted Elm” remained a beloved element in the landscape after the National Park Service (NPS) acquired the property from the Olmsted firm in 1980.
Fairsted Plant GuideExplore Fairsted's cultural landscape through the plants that inhabit it! Each section of the Fairsted, the Rock Garden, Hollow, South Lawn, and Carriage Turn, all have their own plants. Use the map to find their location and learn about their habit and features. |
Last updated: March 15, 2024