Join the History Center to screen “Utica: An Olmsted City,” 6 short videos discussing the origins, significance, and evolution of 5 neighborhoods, the parks and parkway system designed for Utica by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., the preeminent landscape American architect. This program will include a brief introduction and a question-and-answer session with the film’s creators, local historian and Olmsted City Chair Phil Bean, and videographer Dennis Dewey. Light refreshments will be served.
Olmsted’s work in Utica began in the opening months of 1906 when Thomas R. Proctor hired him to design Roscoe Conkling Park. The work expanded to include Frederick T. Proctor Park, Thomas R. Proctor Park, and The Parkway. The Olmsted Brothers designed five neighborhoods in Utica and a small but pleasant development in the adjacent Village of New Hartford between 1913 and 1927.
The legacy of the Olmsted’s work is impressive relative to the size of this community—it is very much worth treasuring and preserving not only because of its beauty, but because it contributes to the local quality of life and is a part of American history.
