Olmsted Brothers were hired by Iowa State College in 1906 to give recommendations on the campus layout and design. The number of students attending Iowa State had grown immensely since it opened its doors nearly 50 years prior, even more so in the last 10 years.
The student body had consisted of about 300 ten years prior but when Olmsted Brothers were brought on, that number had increased to nearly 1,000, and the campus needed additional buildings and space for the increased size.
Olmsted Brothers recommended modifying the location of campus roads to create a more pleasing aesthetic. This potential change upset many in the campus community, with an appeal from Iowa State’s alumni stating that “this change from the natural or English-park style so carefully planned, and tried for nearly forty years on our grounds, to the formal or French style, so artificial and as we believe so unsuited".
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service