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synopsis

Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux were hired by the Chicago South Park Commission in 1870. Spanning across 1,000 acres, South Park connected several sub-sections of green space. While many elements of the firm’s South Park design were completed between the years of 1871-93, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed the original plans and drawings and delayed construction.

Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux were hired by the Chicago South Park Commission in 1870. Spanning across 1,000 acres, South Park connected several sub-sections of green space. While many elements of the firm’s South Park design were completed between the years of 1871-93, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed the original plans and drawings and delayed construction.

Familiar with the Chicago area after designing and developing the neighboring village of Riverside in 1868, Olmsted and Vaux were designated “three tracks of land” on which to design South Park. Plans show the Lower Division or Jackson Park (01902), located along Lake Michigan, connecting to the Upper Division or Washington Park (01903) by the Middle Division, also known as the Midway Plaisance. Challenged by the park’s distance to the city center and its flat terrain, the pair drew comparisons to London’s Hyde Park, and determined that the layout and location for South Park should serve a variety of recreational offerings. Discussing the park’s southern design in their 1871 report, they state that it is “Subdivided into an open and enclosed ground” where the “ground consists simply of a nearly level meadow with a grove of large trees surrounding it on all sides, where the character of the plantation… changes to that of a denser and more picturesque wood.” [Report Accompanying Plan for Laying out the South Park _1881-03_Papers of FLO-v.1-p.221) When discussing the removal of the existing natural vegetation to best suit the aesthetic of the proposed grounds, Olmsted and Vaux recognized the beauty of the waterfront, writing “There is but one object of scenery near Chicago of special grandeur or sublimity… The Lake may be, indeed, be accepted as fully compensating for the absence of sublime or picturesque elevations of land.”

The South Park Commission deemed many aspects of the firm’s inventive design as too intrusive and hired H.W.S Cleveland to oversee a simpler construction. While the original plans were used as guidance, it was not until 1880, when Olmsted and Vaux were called on again to redesign Jackson Park for the World’s Columbian Exposition (00274) that their designs progressed forward more actively.

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