CHAPTER I
JANUARY 1874-AUGUST 1874

The principal topic of documents in this chapter is the early stages of Olmsted’s planning of the expanded grounds of the U.S. Capitol grounds. The three letters to Senator Justin Morrill in this chapter mark the beginning of Olmsted’s writing on the subject. In the letter of January 26, 1874, he reviews the condition of the center of Washington D.C., and demonstrates his longstanding concern with the relation of public open space to the overall city plan. The letter of June 9 describes his first preliminary plan for the Capitol grounds, while the letter of August 16 describes difficulties encountered in the process of construction. Other letters present a wide range of topics. “Country Living” reviews recent writings on landscape gardening by other practitioners, while the letter of March 23 to William Hammond Hall considers a current proposal for the campus of the College of California in Berkeley that Olmsted had planned in 1866. The letter to Salem Wales discusses the problem of placing statuary in large urban parks. The letter to Charles S. Sargent marks the beginning of Olmsted’s involvement with the Arnold Arboretum in Boston. Other letters range from planning the grounds of a hotel in Saratoga, N.Y., to treatment of the Jeffersonville Depot near Louisville.

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