Charles Wellford Leavitt - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Charles Wellford Leavitt (1871–1928) was an American landscape architect

Landscape architect

A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....

, urban planner

Urban planner

An urban planner or city planner is a professional who works in the field of urban planning/land use planning for the purpose of optimizing the effectiveness of a community's land use and infrastructure. They formulate plans for the development and management of urban and suburban areas, typically...

, and civil engineer

Civil engineer

A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...

who designed everything from elaborate gardens on Long Island, New York and New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

estates to federal parks in Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, hotels in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

, plans of towns in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

and elsewhere. New York publisher Julius David Stern called Leavitt "a rare combination of engineer, artist, and diplomat", and the multi-faceted career chosen by Leavitt, veering between public and private commissions and embracing everything from hard-edged engineering to sensuous garden design, and calling for negotiations with everyone from wealthy entrepreneurs to county commissioners, called for an individual with singular talents. Leavitt was one of the preeminent landscape architects of his era and helped found the study of landscape architecture at New York City's

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, where he was one of the first three professors in the University's new four-year program in the discipline.

Early life

Charles Wellford Leavitt Jr. was born in Riverton, New Jersey

Riverton, New Jersey

Riverton is a Borough located in Burlington County, New Jersey. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough had a total population of 2,759....

, on March 13, 1871, the son of Charles Wellford Sr. and Sarah (Allibone) Leavitt. He was educated at The Gunnery

The Gunnery

The Gunnery is a coeducational boarding and day Prep school for 295 students in grades nine through twelve. The campus borders the village green of Washington, Connecticut, U.S., a small, historic town in the Litchfield Hills. The Gunnery has no religious or military affiliations.The Gunnery was...

school in Washington, Connecticut

Washington, Connecticut

Washington is a rural town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in the New England region of the United States. The population was 3,596 at the 2000 census. Washington is known for its picturesque countryside, historic architecture, and active civic and cultural life...

, and the Cheltenham Military Academy in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania. Charles Wellford Leavitt Jr. married Clara Gordon White at Essex Fells, New Jersey

Essex Fells, New Jersey

As of 2010 Essex Fells had a population of 2,113. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 93.5% non-Hispanic white, 1.1% black or African-American, 1.0% Chinese, 1.2% other Asian, 1.9% reporting two or more races and 2.0% Hispanic or Latino....

in 1899, and the couple subsequently had four children.

Professional career

Leavitt began his career as an assistant engineer in charge of construction with the East Jersey Water Company, then subsequently joined the Caldwell Railway and acted as engineer for the town of Essex Fells, New Jersey

Essex Fells, New Jersey

, where he directed the engineering and construction of water and sewer facilities, roads and other municipal facilities. By 1897 Leavitt had set up his own practice in New York City, and began to take on large projects in the area of landscape design, civil engineering and architecture.

Leavitt became a sought-after specialist, particularly in landscape and garden design, and designed the gardens at estates belonging to such figures as Walter P. Chrysler, William C. Whitney

William C. Whitney

William Collins Whitney was an American political leader and financier and founder of the prominent Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first Cleveland administration from 1885 through 1889. A conservative reformer, he was considered a Bourbon Democrat.-Early life:William...

, for whom Leavitt also designed a private racetrack on his estate, Henri Willis Bendel

Henri Willis Bendel

Henri Willis Bendel was an American businessman, fashion designer, and philanthropist who founded an upscale women's fashion company bearing his name in New York City, which more than 100 years later remains in business on Fifth Avenue, one of the premier shopping streets in the world.-Early...

, Daniel S. Lamont

Daniel S. Lamont

Daniel Scott Lamont was the United States Secretary of War during Grover Cleveland's second term.Lamont was born on his family’s farm in Cortland County, New York and attended Union College at Schenectady, New York. While attending Union College he joined the Delta Upsilon Fraternity...

, Foxhall P. Keene

Foxhall P. Keene

Foxhall Parker Keene was an American thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder, a World and Olympic Gold Medallist in polo. He was rated the best all-around polo player in the United States for eight consecutive years, a golfer who competed in the U.S...

, Felix M. Warburg

Felix M. Warburg

Felix Moritz Warburg was a member of the Warburg banking family of Hamburg, Germany.- Biography :He was a grandson of Moses Marcus Warburg, one of the founders of the bank, M. M. Warburg . Felix Warburg was a partner in Kuhn, Loeb & Co.. He is known as a leading advocate of a Federal Reserve...

, Lillian Sefton Dodge

Lillian Sefton Dodge Estate

Lillian Sefton Dodge Estate, also known as Sefton Manor and Mill Neck Manor Lutheran School for the Deaf, is a historic estate located at Mill Neck in Nassau County, New York. It was designed in 1923 by the noted architectural firm Clinton and Russell for cosmetics executive Lillian Sefton Dodge. ...

, H. Fletcher Brown, E. K. Cone, George C. Smith, Issachar Cozzen III, Carlton Macy, George B. Post

George B. Post

George Browne Post was an American architect trained in the Beaux-Arts tradition.-Biography:Post was a student of Richard Morris Hunt , but unlike many architects of his generation, he had previously received a degree in civil engineering...

, Harry K. Knapp

Harry K. Knapp

Harry Kearsarge Knapp was a United States financier and a prominent executive in the Thoroughbred horse racing industry....

, Anson W. Hard and others. Most of Leavitt's landscape commissions were in the New Jersey

New Jersey

hunt country and the North Shore of Long Island, but he also worked as far afield as Pasadena, California

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

and Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...

. Sometimes he acted as landscape architect

Landscape architect

A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....

on homes designed by other architects; often he also designed the homes as well as the adjacent landscaping.

Leavitt's landscape designs ranged from enormous Italianate gardens (Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab may refer to:*Charles M. Schwab , American steel magnate*Charles R. Schwab , founder of the eponymous brokerage*Charles Schwab Corp., an American based brokerage firm...

estate, Loretto, Pennsylvania

Loretto, Pennsylvania

Loretto is a borough in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is officially part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area as recognized by the US Census Bureau, but local sources list it as part of the Altoona, Pennsylvania area due to its proximity to...

), to more intimate wildflower enclosures (J. A. Haskell estate, Red Bank, New Jersey

Red Bank, New Jersey

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 11,844 people, 5,201 households, and 2,501 families residing in the borough. The population density was 6,639.1 people per square mile . There were 5,450 housing units at an average density of 3,055.0 per square mile...

). Typically, Leavitt's designs for the gardens of the wealthy took account of the local topography, the axis of the home and the local fauna and flora. At Kykuit

Kykuit

Kykuit , also known as John D. Rockefeller Estate, is a 40-room National Trust house in Westchester County, New York, built by the oil businessman, philanthropist and founder of the prominent Rockefeller family, John D. Rockefeller, and his son, John D...

, the Rockefeller family home, John D. Rockefeller

John D. Rockefeller

John Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...

worked with Leavitt on designing approach roads to the estate; his son John D. Rockefeller Jr. then conferred with designer Leavitt on the estate's landscaping, but ultimately chose the landscape architect Welles Bosworth to design the estate's gardens.

"Leavitt had the wit to suggest terracing, particularly on the steep slope to the west of the house," write Robert F. and Baldwin Dalzell in The House the Rockefellers Built, "but his ideas were trumped by the fortuitous appearance of another contender."

Leavitt's design work on estates eventually led him to other far-flung commissions. After designing a home for Foxhall Kenne, for instance, Leavitt subsequently designed several race courses for Kenne, an equestrian and race track owner, including the Empire City Race Track, as well as the tracks at Saratoga

Saratoga Race Course

Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It opened on August 3, 1863, and is the oldest organized sporting venue of any kind in the United States. It is typically open for racing from late July through early September.-History:John...

, Sheepshead Bay, Belmont Park

Belmont Park

Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...

, Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

and Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

.

But Leavitt's interests were not limited to confections for the Gilded Age elite. He took a deep interest in city planning, especially that of his adopted city of New York. On January 3, 1922, for instance, Leavitt was moved to write The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

concerning the routing of traffic flow, an issue addressed in a recent Times story. "The construction, operating, financial and economic aspects of any problem belong to the engineer and his field", wrote Leavitt to The Times. "This city is rich in her wealth of men of engineering genius and talent."

Leavitt went on to praise the work of the city's engineers the previous winter in attempting to channel the city's growing traffic – a solution, Leavitt wrote, that had been largely successful. "The only failure seems to have been in the area of publicity", he said, "Engineering training, although thoroughly practical in many ways, is evidently visionary and weak when it comes to the matter of the creation of headlines."

In his municipal planning work, Leavitt became a forceful practitioner of the City Beautiful architectural movement

City Beautiful movement

The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy concerning North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of using beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. The movement, which was originally associated mainly with Chicago,...

of the day. His design for the Lake Mirror Promenade in Lakeland, Florida

Lakeland, Florida

Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States, located approximately midway between Tampa and Orlando along Interstate 4. According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the city had a population of 94,406...

, executed in the 1920s, is one of the best-known examples of the emerging movement in city planning which altered the course of landscape design and changed the face of urban planning

Urban planning

Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....

. The promenade circles the side of Lake Mirror on the east side of downtown, and incorporated a loggia

Loggia

Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...

, a pedestrian area with a mix of public and private buildings, and a large open circle of lawn designed to accommodate an obelisk sculpture

Sculpture

Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

(that was never built). The promenade, with its columns and other architectural elements, was meant to evoke ancient Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

or Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

.

In his plan for the University of Georgia

University of Georgia

The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

campus, executed in 1906, Leavitt helped spearhead the emerging City Beautiful Movement. Leavitt's design hewed to the Beaux Arts style, but paid close attention to the axial relationship of buildings to open space. The Leavitt Plan for the campus remains influential in the University's planning today,

Leavitt's Georgia plans, and other prominent commissions, brought him to the attention of developers such as James Buchanan Duke

James Buchanan Duke

James Buchanan Duke was a U.S. tobacco and electric power industrialist best known for his involvement with Duke University.-Personal life:...

, who was anxious to convert his 3000 acres (12.1 km²) in Somerville, New Jersey

Somerville, New Jersey

Somerville is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 12,098. It is the county seat of Somerset County....

into a moneyed enclave. In 1910 Duke hired Leavitt as his landscape architect to lay out the winding avenues, concrete walks, "and plenty of shade trees and ornamental plants" that would lend cache to Duke's proposed development.

In selecting Leavitt, Duke had chosen a landscape architect and engineer who had also worn the developer's hat as well. In the late 19th century, Leavitt had teamed with Philadelphia businessman Anthony S. Drexel to create the New York Suburban Land Company. After learning that the railroads were going to extend service into New Jersey and southward, Drexel sent Leavitt to investigate, later going into business with the architect as well as Drexel's son-in-law John F. Fell. Their resulting partnership purchased 1000 acres (4 km²) from General William J. Gould for development, and named the community after Fell. (Subsequent tough economic times forced the partnership under management of Drexel's estate – but with engineer Leavitt still in charge).

Camden County, New Jersey

Camden County, New Jersey

-Demographics:As of the 2010 Census the population of Camden County was 60.28% Non-Hispanic white, 18.45% Non-Hispanic black, 1.12% Hispanic blacks, 0.17% Non-Hispanic Native American, 0.15% Hispanic Native Americans, 5.07% Non-Hispanic Asian, and 0.14% non-Hispanics reporting some other race...

also hired Leavitt after organizing its park commission in 1926. As consulting engineer, Leavitt and his firm were charged with developing a countywide public park and playground system. But Camden County subsequently purchased several properties which, Leavitt argued, were bought solely to enhance the property values of well-connected Camden businessmen – one of whom was the Commissioner of Parks. Although some of Leavitt's early plans were utilized, "the Park Commission therefore fired the brilliant engineer and so lost the vital support and support of his patron, Eldridge Johnson, president of the Victor Talking Machine Company

Victor Talking Machine Company

The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....

."

Leavitt also designed municipal parks, including the federal parks in Cuba

Cuba

, the Washington Crossing Park on the Delaware River

Delaware River

The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...

, and did much of the initial town planning of West Palm Beach, Florida

West Palm Beach, Florida

West Palm Beach, is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and is the most populous city in and county seat of Palm Beach County, the third most populous county in Florida with a 2010 population of 1,320,134. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida...

, and Garden City, New York

Garden City, New York

Garden City is a village in the town of Hempstead in central Nassau County, New York, in the United States. It was founded by multi-millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart in 1869, and is located on Long Island, to the east of New York City, from mid-town Manhattan, and just south of the town of...

, as well as other prominent urban design projects. He served as chief engineer for the Palisades Interstate Park Commission

Palisades Interstate Park Commission

Palisades Interstate Park and its creator, the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, was formed in 1900 by governors Theodore Roosevelt of New York and Foster M. Voorhees of New Jersey in response to the destruction of the Palisades by quarry operators in the late 19th century...

and designed urban plans for Long Beach; Garden City, Long Island, New York; Monument Valley Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...

; the lieutenant governor's residence in Toronto, Ontario; he also designed the stadium grandstand at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field

Forbes Field

Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise...

, and was the primary landscape architect for Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.

Charles Leavitt, a resident of Hartsdale, New York

Hartsdale, New York

Hartsdale is a hamlet and a census-designated place located in the town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York. The population was 5,293 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Hartsdale is located at ....

, was a longtime member of the American Society of Civil Engineers

American Society of Civil Engineers

The American Society of Civil Engineers is a professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE's vision is to have engineers positioned as global leaders who strive toward...

, the American Society of Landscape Architects

American Society of Landscape Architects

The American Society of Landscape Architects is the national professional association representing landscape architects, with more than 17,000 members in 48 chapters, representing all 50 states, U.S. territories, and 42 countries around the world, plus 68 student chapters...

, and the Architectural League of New York

Architectural League of New York

The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture, urbanism, and related disciplines"....

. Like many architects, especially in the era in which Leavitt practiced, he often bounced between his professional responsibilities and the social contacts which furnished him a steady stream of well-heeled clients. During his early years in business particularly, Leavitt was heavily reliant on his principal engineering assistant Robert W. Sayles, who died in 1913.

On Leavitt's own death at age 57 from pneumonia in 1928, the firm, which had become Charles Wellford Leavitt & Son, remained active until 1940, run by Leavitt's son Gordon. In its obituary of Leavitt, The New York Times noted his design of disparate structures, including country clubs, race tracks, private estates, as well as his work on the Palisades and town planning. The Times called the designer a "landscape engineer" and "park designer."

Charles Leavitt and his wife Clara had three other children, and an infant daughter who died at four weeks.

Early life

Professional career

External links

Further reading

See also