Place

Missouri Botanic Gardens

Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site

Black and white of flat grassy area with cows on it and fence and trees in distance
Missouri Botanic Gardens, Job #00081, St. Louis, MO

Olmsted Archives

Quick Facts
Location:
St. Louis, MO
Significance:
Olmsted Designed Arboretum
In 1896, Olmsted Brothers became the first landscape architects hired to work on the Missouri Botanical Garden, calling for a comprehensive arrangement of plant material and the removal of the Linnaean House, then being used as an orangery. Little of John Charles and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.’s plan was implemented- the Linnaean House is still used as a public greenhouse.

Olmsted Brothers' most intact design element of the Missouri Botanical Garden was an 1899 recommendation for a 220-acre addition, known as the North American Tract, executed in 1905. Another Olmsted Brother addition, carried out in 1909, included a complex serving as an herbarium, library, and administrative building.

Source: "Missouri Botanical Garden," The Cultural Landscape Foundation

For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr 

Last updated: June 8, 2024