By 1895, the Baltimore Park Commission had already begun making improvements for a public park, and already invested in the rehabilitation of green spaces throughout the city. In 1904, Olmsted Brothers submitted their first comprehensive report for Baltimore, which included reworking Clifton Park, which they saw as one of the city’s major parks that would anchor the whole system.
At Clifton Park, Olmsted Brothers added recreational facilities and reorganized roadways. Their first addition was an athletic ground on the southern section of the park, with a stone wall that remains today. Also in the Olmsted Brothers’ design was a swimming pool, which, when placed, was the largest concrete swimming pool in the country. Unfortunately, a section of Clifton Park would be destroyed in 1916 to make way for a golf course, Baltimore’s first public course.
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service