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General Plan for the Improvement of the U.S. Capitol Grounds by Frederick Law Olmsted, 1874
Following the extension of the Capitol in the 1850s-1860s, the grounds were enlarged in 1872. In 1874 Congress commissioned Frederick Law Olmsted to design landscape improvements, and he soon produced this drawing which guided the project over the next two decades. He described the plan as "very simple, with the purpose of its perfect subordination in interest to the architectural design of the Capitol." Olmsted's objective was to provide a dignified "park-like" setting for the Capitol, with groupings of trees and expansive vistas designed to set the Capitol square apart, as an oasis from the surrounding, developing city. Today the grounds have evolved into an arboretum with hundreds of mature botanical specimens - many of which are rarely seen elsewhere. |