Calvert Vaux and Samuel Parsons, Jr.
Calvert Vaux, together with Frederick Law Olmsted a pioneer of landscape architecture in the United States, revolutionized American urban park design. In 1865 Calvert Vaux was commissioned to design Prospect Park in Brooklyn and invited Frederick Law Olmsted who led the construction for Central Park, to collaborate with him. They formed Olmsted, Vaux and Company going on to design dozens of parks, parkways and planned neighborhoods across the country including the first suburbs of Chicago called Riverside Improvement Society in 1868. Olmsted and Vaux pioneered the importance of public parks for the nation’s landscape. In 1872 Vaux dissolved his partnership with Olmsted and went on to building architecture, in a partnership with George Kent Radford and Samuel Parsons, Jr. Parsons and Vaux were responsible for choosing the site for the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx and produced many notable designs, including: Abingdon Square and Christopher Street Park, both in Greenwich Village, the restoration of the Ladies Pond in Central Park (which at the time was infested with malaria carrying mosquito's), the siting of Grant’s Tomb in Riverside Park, and the completion of Morningside Park. In collaboration with architect Stanford White, Parsons and Vaux also produced the Washington Square Memorial Arch in Washington Square Park and the Grand Army Plaza Arch near Prospect Park in Brooklyn.
Calvert Vaux
B. 1824 London, England
D. 1895 Brooklyn, New York
English architect Calvert Vaux entered the practice of architecture as an apprentice and subsequently as a member of the firm of L.N. Cottingham in London. In 1850 he was invited to join an architectural practice with American landscape designer and writer Andrew Jackson Downing in Newburgh, New York. Downing and Vaux worked together for two years designing many significant projects including the grounds for the White House and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. In 1857 Vaux moved his offices to New York City where he collaborated with Fredrick Law Olmsted to design Central Park. The design, Greenward, so named by contestants Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, won out of the 33 submissions for the plans for Central Park. In 1872, Vaux dissolved the partnership with Olmsted and went on to building architecture, in a partnership with George Kent Radford and Samuel Parsons, Jr. Vaux’ career produced dozens of parks across the country that focused on the integration of buildings, bridges and other forms of architecture into their natural surroundings. His naturalistic, rustic designs were a major contribution to the fields of landscape and architecture.
Samuel Parsons, Jr.
B. 1844 New Bedford, Massachusetts
D. 1923 New York
Samuel Parsons, Jr. received his practical training in landscaping working for his father’s nursery in Flushing, Queens. He studied philosophy and graduated from Yale University in 1862. At that time his father’s nursery business was supplying the projects of Olmsted and Vaux. Parsons, who was best known for his Beaux Arts designs, became an apprentice of Calvert Vaux, the head landscape architect of the New York City Parks Department from 1879-1884. Parsons, with the title Superintendent of Planting for the New York City Parks Department, and Vaux were partners from 1887-1895. After Vaux's death in 1895, Parsons became the new head landscape architect of New York City and remained there until 1911. He was also one of the original founders of the American Society of Landscape Architects and served as President from 1905-1907. After Vaux’s death, Parsons continued the practice, designing among others, Saint Nicholas Park in New York City, a Dutch Garden for Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, and the redesign of Union Square to accommodate the subway in New York City.