190 ■ FIEST COUNTY PAEK SYSTEM 



and will give a desirable and useful approach to the 

 mountain/' 



This report was in entire accord with the former reports 

 of all the park-making specialists of both the first and 

 second commissions. Frederick Law Olmsted who, prior 

 to his retirement in 1897, and death in 1903, was accred- 

 ited one of the greatest public park specialists known, had, 

 in his firm's report of January, 1895, referred to Central 

 and Park avenues as follows : 



"Essex County is already provided with streets generally 

 called avenues, that are essentially parkways of a formal 

 character leading to the foot of Orange Mountain. To 

 make them all that is desirable for your purpose it is only 

 necessary that suitable building lines should be established 

 on their borders; that roads should extend from them on 

 easy grades up the mountain, and that certain improve- 

 ments of detail should be made in them" — a concise and 

 axiomatic statement, the correctness of which, as applied 

 to the avenue-parkway situation in Essex County, no one 

 has ever attempted to refute or even question. 



At the Park Board meetings January 7 and 11, 1897, 

 the reply to Chairman Stanley's letter was under consider- 

 ation. Mr. Shepard presented and moved the adoption 

 of a draft of letter in reply, which it was understood had 

 been formulated or suggested by Counsel Munn. It con- 

 tained these statements: 



"As the larger parks must be outside of thickly settled 

 districts, the commission favors every reasonable plan for 

 reaching these, in parkways or otherwise, quickly and at 

 the lowest cost, and without interference with the busi- 

 ness or occupation of citizens. 



"They recognize the fact that electricity is the coming 

 power for the transportation of people in cities and su- 

 burban places. They would like to see methods in opera- 

 tion by which people could leave Newark and reach the 

 Orange Mountain parks in fifteen minutes, and at a cost 

 of three or not exceeding five cents. These same methods 

 would, of course, enable people living in the country to 



