Frederick Law Olmsted
National Historic Site

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Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) is widely recognized as the founder of the profession of landscape architecture in the United States and the nation's foremost parkmaker. The historic, three-story brick vault at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site in Brookline, Massachusetts, houses thousands of original plans and drawings detailing the most treasured public spaces and landscapes in America including the United States Capitol Grounds, the White House, and the Jefferson Memorial; West Point Military Academy; Great Smoky Mountains National Park; Niagara Falls Reservation; Yosemite Valley, and New York's Central Park.

In Brookline, Massachusetts, Frederick Law Olmsted established a full-scale professional office that expanded and perpetuated his landscape design ideals, philosophy, and influence over the course of a century. The Olmsted home and office were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963 and became part of the National Park System in 1979. Most of the archival records were rapidly deteriorating and largely inaccessible to the public when the National Park Service took possession. Park Service staff are currently in the midst of a concerted effort to inventory, conserve, and make accessible nearly 1,000,000 original dating from the 1860s, including an estimated 150,000 landscape architectural plans and drawings and thousands of photographic prints and negatives, planting lists, lithographs, letters, financial records, and reports.

The Olmsted Archives is one of the largest and most widely-researched museum collections in the National Park Service. Every year park and city planners from across the United States use these documents to rehabilitate and rebuild public landscapes that are used and loved by millions of people. The Olmsted Archives contains records for nearly 5,000 projects including national, state and city parks; metropolitan park systems; planned residential communities; school and college campuses; arboretums and reservations; institutional grounds, and private estates. Plans for parks in Seattle, Chicago, Baltimore, Buffalo, and Louisville, to name but a few of the park systems designed by the Olmsteds, have been key to tens of millions of dollars of recent public and private renovations and repairs.

Visitors to the park have the unique opportunity to tour a century-old, professional design office that remains virtually unchanged from the days when the Olmsted firm's activity was at its height. The surrounding grounds, which may well be the most significant historic designed landscape in the National Park Service, continue to reflect Olmsted's design ideals, craftsmanship, and use of plant material.

The Olmsted Office also played an influential role in the creation of the National Park Service. Writing from his desk in Brookline, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. crafted the words that were to serve as a "statement of purpose" for legislation establishing the National Park Service in 1916:

To conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects
and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the
same in such manner and by such means as will leave
them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.



VISITATION:
Highest in April-October; lowest in November-March.

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LOCATION:
Brookline, Massachusetts

ADDRESS:
Headquarters: Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site 99 Warren Street
Brookline, MA 02445

TELEPHONE:
(617) 566-1689

OPERATING HOURS, SEASONS:
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday throughout the year from 10:00 am to 4:30 p.m. Groups at other times by advance appointment. Closed: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day.

CLIMATE, RECOMMENDED CLOTHING:
Spring, summer, and fall seasons are temperate. Winter season may be harsh with periodic snow and cold.

DIRECTIONS:

Automobile from Boston and points east: Follow Huntington Avenue SW from the area of Copley Square. As you cross from Boston into Brookline beneath the Jamaicaway overpass, Huntington Avenue becomes Rt. 9/Boylston Street. Continue on Rt. 9/Boylston. At the third major intersection, turn left onto Warren Street and follow 1/8 mile to intersection of Warren and Dudley Streets. Olmsted NHS is on right-hand corner with NPS sign and distinctive archway at house front.

Automobile from I-95/Rt.128 and points west: From I-95/Rt. 128, take Exit 20 (Rt. 9 East, Boston/Brookline). Follow Rt. 9/Boylston St. for approximately 5 miles. Pass through a major intersection with Lee Street and continue on Boylston, passing the Brookline Reservoir on right side. At next intersection, turn right from Boylston onto Warren Street and follow 1/8 mile to intersection of Warren and Dudley Streets. Olmsted NHS is on right-hand corner with NPS sign and distinctive archway at house front.


FEES, COSTS, RATES:
Entrance is FREE. Donations to the National Park Service are accepted. .

FACILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES:
Visitor Center/Exhibits:
Visitor information, bookstore services, and exhibits featuring a variety of Olmsted landscapes throughout the United States are located on the first floor of the historic Olmsted house. A 17-minute orientation video entitled "From Pencil to Park: Preserving Olmsted Landscapes" is shown prior to guided tours. A park brochure and walking guide to the Olmsted residential landscape are also available.

Programs/Activities:
Guided tours of the historic Olmsted design office are offered on the half hour between 10:30 and 3:30. Special tours of the "Fairsted" residential landscape, a small-scale exhibit of Olmsted design spaces, may be offered in season.

The 1999 Spring Walking Tour series extends May 9 through June 20 and features guided tours of the Boston Park System including Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Pond, the Back Bay Fens, Olmsted Park, the Muddy River, and Franklin Park. All tours are FREE and will be held rain or shine beginning at 1:00 p.m. Call (617)566-1689 for details and meeting locations.

The park's curriculum-based program, "Landscape Explorers: Uncovering the Power of Place," heightens student awareness of the relationship between landscape and people through an interdisciplinary investigation of landscape that draws on methods from Art, Science, and History.


Lodging and camping facilities:
Many opportunities for overnight lodging and camping are found within close proximity to the park and the greater Boston metropolitan area.

Food/supplies:
A variety of local restaurants and groceries are located within a few miles of the park.

Accessibility:
Parking is limited; handicapped spaces for automobiles are available. Access to the first floor of the Olmsted house is available to mobility-impaired visitors by means of exterior and interior ramps. Access to the multi-level Olmsted office is only available by means of stairs.

Special Needs:
Limited parking is available; buses will need to be directed by park staff to nearby public street parking.

RECOMMENDED ACTIVITIES/PARK USE:
Guided tours, exhibits, audiovisual programs, publications, and information services are available on-site during normal visitor hours and at other times with advance notice. The park bookstore offers a variety of landscape histories, biographies, studies, and related items for purchase. Special guided tours of Olmsted-designed landscapes in the nearby Boston metropolitan area are offered periodically during the year. These may include focused walks in the Back Bay Fens, Riverway, Jamaica Pond, Arnold Arboretum, and Franklin Park portions of Boston's famed "emerald necklace" park system. Olmsted theme-related slide lectures are available by reservation to community groups and organizations including "Frederick Law Olmsted and the Massachusetts Legacy" and "Domesticity in Green: Olmsted and Suburbia." Specific information on special classroom and field programs is available through the Education Specialist.

RESERVATIONS/PERMITS:
Regular visitor programs are available from 10:00 am - 4:30 pm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of each. Walk-in visitors do not need reservations during these times. Groups, including school and bus tour groups, wishing to visit outside the normal operating hours must make advance arrangements to ensure that staffing is available. Special use of the park for group meetings, receptions, workshops, etc. must be arranged through the Special Use Coordinator; a nominal fee may be charged for special use depending on type of use.

BASIC VISIT RECOMMENDATIONS:
Visitors should expect to spend 1-1 1/2 hours at the park in order to fully enjoy available programs. Special group tours and off-site walking tours may be 1-4 hours in length depending of the type of program offered.

ADJACENT VISITOR ATTRACTIONS:
A host of parks, museums, and visitor attractions are located within a few miles of the park. Nearby areas administered by the National Park Service include: John F. Kennedy National Historic Site, 83 Beals Street, Brookline, MA (617) 566-7937 Birthplace and boyhood home of the 35th President of the United States Longfellow National Historic Site, 105 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA (617) 876-4491 Home of the popular 19th century poet and scholar, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Telephone:

General Information .................(617) 566-1689 x "0"
Visitor Programs ...............................................x 221
Special Events.................................................. x 221
Education Specialist ......................................... x 204
Research Office ................................................x 230
Public Affairs ................................................... x 203

Last Modified: 3/11/99
URL: www.nps.gov/frla/index.htm