Project Details Page

synopsis

After parting ways with Calvert Vaux, Frederick Law Olmsted worked on the plans and design of Quebec’s Mount Royal from 1874-1881. Olmsted wanted to highlight the mountainous landscape of this major park in the center of the city. As seen in his 1877 design (00609-44), he added to the natural environment through the plantings of dramatic foliage.

After parting ways with Calvert Vaux, Frederick Law Olmsted worked on the plans and design of Quebec’s Mount Royal from 1874-1881. Olmsted wanted to highlight the mountainous landscape of this major park in the center of the city. As seen in his 1877 design (00609-44), he added to the natural environment through the plantings of dramatic foliage. Describing the mountain Olmsted wrote “I got above the craggy face of the mountain toward the city, and found myself on a surface but moderately broken and rugged, and essentially an undulating and wooded table-land, from nearly all points of which broad and delightful landscapes are commanded.” Olmsted proposed extending a driving road down the mountainside and suggested that “Foot approaches should closely follow the main carriage approach and its laterals” and “that there should also be one broad easy walk to the top of the mountain having attractions peculiar to itself and several minor footpaths scaling the crags more directly.”

Although construction was initiated, the project was delayed until a later date as the country faced economic depression. [Frederick Law Olmsted to The Commissioners of Mount-Royal Park_1874-11-21_Papers of FLO-v.7-p.85&89]

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