Last updated: June 11, 2024
Place
Rock Garden
Quick Facts
Location:
Brookline, MA
Significance:
Olmsted Designed Feature
Olmsted firmly believed that public parks should provide people with momentary relief from noise, hard pavement, and the bustle of the city. To help solve this problem brought on by urbanization, he created woodland trails in his large parks, transporting the visitor out of the city and into the woods by using "passages of scenery" for a sequential experience. Two of Olmsted's most heralded successes with such trails are the 38-acre Ramble in New York City's Central Park and the 64-acre Wilderness in Boston's Franklin Park.
Olmsted crafted his Rock Garden in the manner of his woodland trails. Here, a path meanders around lush plantings and rocks, into areas speckled with shades and light.
Along the rocky way, the path moves beneath broad magnolia branches, and around a dense variety of shrubs, trees, and ground covers, revealing- then taking away- swatches of scenic mystery.
With little warning, the trail opens into a broad expanse of meadow. The shift from dark to light, from rocky wooded path to gently rolling meadow is intentional: a "brief passage of scenery" giving way to "an unexpected breadth of view" beckons and engages the imagination.
Source: "Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Olmsted Online