Latest News
The Pond & Bridge
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: Val-Kill established itself as the gathering and recreation place for the Roosevelt family. The Roosevelts enjoyed outdoor activities, and Val Kill offered plenty of opportunities-tennis, horseback riding, swimming, and hiking on wooded trails.
Vassar College
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: In August of 1868, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux made a visit to Vassar College, to begin consultation on the campus's design. A day after their visit, Olmsted wrote to his wife Mary, reporting that “they have a miserable plan to be amended, that’s all.".
Picnic Fireplace
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: This fireplace was constructed on the picnic lawn in 1933. Nancy Cook prepared simple sketches from which Henry Toombs, architect of the cottage at Val-Kill, made final drawings. Made from local fieldstone, it has five feet of grilling length with warming shleves on either side. The fireplace was an...
Pond Wildlife
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: This was one of his favorite places to drive and park his car for a rare moment of tranquility and enjoy a view of this small pond. What his casual observance may not have readily revealed is that this habitat supports an amazing diversity of amphibian and bird life, as well as an uncommon reptile.
Where Eleanor Walked
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: Today, you can walk these woods just as Eleanor Roosevelt did each day during her time at Val Kill. This was often a starting point for Eleanor’s daily exercise routine.
Woodland Park
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: In 1889, Seattle entrepreneur Guy Phinney purchased 179-acres for the development of a commercial park. It would take another fourteen years for Olmsted Brothers to be hired and begin designing Woodland Park, which would be the city’s largest. With John Charles Olmsted taking the lead, he prepared his first report for Woodland Park, suggesting one section be reserved for a zoo, and the other retained for passive and active recreation.
Johnathan N. Rucker
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: Jonathan Nathaniel Rucker was born Sept. 3, 1892 to Peter C. and Ardella Screws Rucker outside Natchez, Mississippi. Peter Rucker was a preacher in the African American community while Ardella Rucker taught home economics at Natchez College, a high school level institution. Mrs. Rucker also taught...
Overmountain Victory NHT Junior Ranger
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: A great way to explore the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail is with our Junior Ranger program! Being a 330-mile Commemorative Motor Route across four states with a growing network of certified hiking trails and no dedicated Visitor Center, the Junior Ranger program is a great way to add some...
Montlake Boulevard
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: Originally called University Boulevard, Montlake Boulevard was designed by John Charles Olmsted after writing up a series of recommendations in 1909 for the University of Washington. The Boulevard first served as the grand automobile entrance for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, with John Charles hoping that the Boulevard would continue by the water’s shore, instead of cutting through a residential neighborhood.
Schmitz Park
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: Originally known as Forest Park, Olmsted Brothers described the area in their 1908 Plan for Seattle Parks as “a densely wooded ravine…valuable for its scenic effects, and for recreation purposes." Between 1908 and 1912, what would become Schmitz Park was donated to the city in pieces, with the largest...
University of Florida
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: The campus design at the University of Florida was born from an ongoing expression of social and architectural change within a context of architectural compatibility. The campus character can be broken into three historical eras. The first era, from 1905 to 1925, was around the implementation of the original campus plan. The second era, from 1925 to 1944 was based on coalescence and enhancement, which was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.
National Park Service responds to recent comments on St. John Land Exchange for a New Public School, extends public comment period through June 9
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: ST. JOHN, U.S. Virgin Islands - Today, the National Park Service (NPS) released responses to the 400 comments received during the recent public comment period pertaining to a Notice of Realty Action (NORA). The NORA for the St. John Land Exchange was first announced in December, and comments were accepted...
Indiana University
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: Starting in 1929, Indiana University hired Olmsted Brothers to help in the planning and development of their campus. Working at the University for a total of seven years, Olmsted Brothers developed 161 plans for the campus.
Rockaway Beach & Jamaica Bay
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: Rockaway Point was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1879 to rival Coney Island and become the new summer resort destination. Olmsted wrote that “there is no place as near and easily & cheaply accessible from New York as Rockaway Point which is also as far removed from conditions of the same class, barring the liabilities which I have pointed out, conditions exist as favorable for recovery and the working off of malarial and diarrhetic trouble.".
Volunteer Park
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: To honor veterans of the Spanish-American War, Seattle chose to honor their new park, and the site of the city’s first reservoir, as Volunteer Park. John Charles Olmsted of Olmsted Brothers helped guide development of Volunteer Park in 1903, making recommendations for the placement, style, and potential future of a water tower as an observation deck.
Huntingdon College
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: When the campus of the Tuskegee Female College would no longer suffice for a growing campus, it was decided to move the college, which would be renamed the Women’s College of Alabama before becoming Huntingdon College, to the more populous, urban environment of Montgomery.
The Orchard at Val-Kill
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: The orchard was created in 1931. Here, Eleanor, Marion, and Nancy grew a variety of crops including raspberries, blueberries, pears, grapes, and apples. Fruiting trees included Bosc and Bartlett pears, Mackintosh, Red and Yellow Delicious, Spy, and Pippin apples. The orchard was also home to bee hives.
Old Beaver Dam
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: All along the Val Kill trail you will encounter the endless pattern of change in nature.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Provide Updates to Estimated Reopening Dates
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Tulare County, Caltrans, and others continue to make progress with damage assessments and repairs at a time when the public is eager to get out into their public lands and plan their summer vacations. Thanks to information provided by partner agencies we can share a couple significant updates as part of our weekly review of estimated reopening dates.
Lake Park
By Interior Newswire | Apr 28, 2023
News Release: In 1889, Milwaukee began acquiring lakefront land for a new park, asking Frederick Law Olmsted to help with the design. Olmsted agreed, as he was close by in Chicago planning the grounds for the World’s Columbian Exposition. Olmsted believed that greenspaces should be emphasized by the area’s best features, which for Lake Park was a forested, towering lakefront bluff cut deep by ravines.