FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED AND HIS WORK 
II. THE TERRACES AND LANDSCAPE WORK OF THE UNITED STATES 
CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON 
By John Nolen, M. A., (Harvard) 
M R. FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED was 
placed in charge of the improvement of the 
Capitol grounds at Washington by Act of Con¬ 
gress in 1874. His appointment was made upon 
the recommendation of Edward Clark, Architect 
of the Capitol, who had for a long time appre¬ 
ciated the need for extensive improvements in 
the area surrounding the great budding. The 
task to which Mr. Olmsted was called was not 
an easy one. It presented very difficult problems 
in design,—problems in many respects different 
from what he or any one else in this country had 
hitherto been called upon to solve. 
It is the aim of this article to set forth briefly 
these problems and then to see how they were met 
and mastered. 
First of all the conditions must be understood. 
The Capitol building itself is finely situated on a 
hill ninety-five feet above the Potomac River, dom¬ 
inating the entire city with its great dome which 
rises to a height of 288 feet. In length the build¬ 
ing is 751 feet; in width it varies from 121 to 324 
feet. I he central section is of sandstone painted 
white and the two wings are of marble. The style 
is classic with Corinthian details. It is generally 
believed that the city was expected to spread to 
the east rather than to the west, and so the prin¬ 
cipal facade looks in the former direction. Early 
in the century Congress regarded the ground west 
of the Capitol as its “back yard,” but through the 
improvements within the grounds and in the city 
generally it has become incomparably the nobler 
and more important front. From the hill upon 
which the Capitol stands fine views were command¬ 
ed along the eleven avenues radiating from it, 
views that would naturally become more and more 
important with each passing year. Moreover, to 
the south and southwest the spectator could enjoy 
the rare beauty of the valley of the Potomac. 
In earlier years the Capitol stood upon a much 
THE SOUTH LAWN AND TERRACE 
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