CHAPTER IX
MAY 1880—DECEMBER 1880

The principal focus of the documents in this chapter relates to the Boston park system. The document addressed to Charles Dalton consists of a report by Olmsted and Charles S. Sargent on replanting Commonwealth Avenue between the Back Bay Fens and the Public Garden, while the report to the park commissioners presents Olmsted’s first proposal to transform the valley of the Muddy River between the Fens and Jamaica Pond. A further letter to Sylvester Baxter encourages the development of a metropolitan system of scenic reservations.

Two letters to John C. Phillips describe the stages of Olmsted’s planning of that important commission, “Moraine Farm” in Beverly, Massachusetts, which became the most fully realized of Olmsted’s early plans for a country estate. The letters relating to the U.S. Capitol grounds touch on a number of issues: the letter to Thomas Wisedell shows Olmsted engaged in reasoning with a professional colleague about difficulties in their relationship; one letter to Edward Clark describes Olmsted’s imaginative concept for the summer house on the grounds and the other records difficulties of policing the area.

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