Pictured is the Longyear house in the city of Marquette, showing some of the landscaping and plants. (Photo courtesy of the Marquette Regional History Center)

MARQUETTE — On September 19, 1891, the Daily Mining Journal reported, “Frederick Olmsted Sr. and Jr. of Boston are in the city. Mr. Olmsted Sr. is the famous landscape artist and comes here to lay out the grounds around the new Longyear residence.” Olmsted had been hired in the summer of 1890 to design the grounds of the Columbian Exposition of the Chicago World’s Fair. John Longyear then wrote to Olmsted in July 1891, asking him to come to Marquette at his convenience while working in the Chicago area.

Longyear had hired Marquette architect Demetrius Charlton to design a Romanesque style home on his 12-acre lot, located between Arch, Cedar, Ridge and Walnut Streets. Construction began in 1891 on the 65-room home, which was built of local raindrop sandstone with slate roof shingles from the Arvon Quarry. No expense was spared in the construction and design. It was believed to be the first residence in the Upper Peninsula designed with electric lights.

Sandstone retaining walls were built on Ridge Street and a 200-foot-long wall extended from Ridge to Arch Street. Below this wall, a building housed the electrical plant with a bowling alley on the second floor. These sandstone walls can still be seen today. By October 1892 John and Mary Longyear with their children, Abby, Howard, Helen, Judith, Jack and Robert moved into their spacious home.

Longyear was anxious to have the grounds landscaped. After visiting the site in 1891, the Olmsted firm agreed to the job in the spring of 1892 and created a model of the plantings. The uneven terrain presented a challenge. Olmsted recommended covering the grounds with creeping plants, shrubs and vines. He wrote, “We believe that in general it is not advisable to keep such steep banks in turf, as it is very difficult to mow…and almost impossible to keep the turf in perfect condition…” while noting that bushes, vines and trees would also be more picturesque and interesting.

Olmsted agreed to send Warren Manning to supervise the planting in the summer of 1893. To prepare the soil, Olmsted wrote that the three acres to be planted should be dug up and prepared with muck and stable manure.

Thousands of plants were shipped. The landscape firm ordered plants with an estimated cost of $1,200, plus packing and shipping. The plant list was extensive with 83 varieties of shrubs and vines listed including 1,000 vincas (periwinkles), 300 bayberry bushes, bittersweet, sumac, blackhaw, highbush cranberry, prickly ash, juneberry, spirea, lilac, witch hazel, yucca and trumpet creeper. The trees recommended were red and sugar maples and canoe birch.

The severe winter climate presented a challenge to the gardens. After the first winter, Longyear reported that some plants had not survived. Olmsted and Company recommended replanting the Ridge Street bank with wild roses and huckleberries. For several years Longyear and his gardeners reported on which plants were hardy and which species had died off.

By 1897, Longyear worked with the Olmsted firm to expand the gardens to include tulips, crocuses, daffodils and many species of fruit trees and. All correspondence between Longyear and Olmsted can be found in the Marquette Regional History Center’s Longyear Library.

While Olmsted and his son were in Marquette in the fall of 1891, Demetrius Charlton took them on a tour of the city including Presque Isle Park. This land had previously been designated as a government lighthouse reserve. Through the efforts of Park Commissioner Peter White, a bill was passed in 1886, giving the land to the city of Marquette. White worked with the city council to provide funds for the bridge across the Dead River and roads to the park.

Olmsted designed over 1,000 parks during his career. Peter White wrote to him regarding Presque Isle. Olmsted replied “I had the pleasure of September last of visiting Presque Isle, the site which the city of Marquette has the good fortune to hold in reserve for a public park, and was delighted with what I saw. A park in this site can have certain natural advantage possessed by no other that I have seen and it is to be hoped that the utmost caution will be observed in guarding these…particularly to the exceedingly interesting, beautiful and picturesque elements of local scenery along the shore of the Lake.”

Olmsted went on to recommend thinning the old trees, to encourage new under growth and to use the logs to construct shelters from rain and places of refreshment. Although the Olmsted firm was never hired to plan Presque Isle Park, they sent a lengthy report to Peter White in 1896 detailing recommendations for the park and to ultimately, “…preserve it, treasure it as little altered as may be for all times.”

2022 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, social reformer and founder of American landscape architecture. The Marquette Regional History Center is joining the National Association for Olmsted Parks in their celebration, Olmsted 200, as we remember Olmsted’s visit and his influence on our own beloved Presque Isle.

Join us on Wednesday, May 4, at 6:30 p.m. at the history center for Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America. Experience an illustrated presentation on The Olmsted Legacy by historian and filmmaker Laurence Cotton. He will present a talk about Olmsted’s life, career and legacy and a mini-travelogue of select Olmsted landscapes across N. America. Come learn about this extraordinary legacy of a Renaissance man and how his philosophy, writings and designs are still relevant today. $10 for this special program.

Tickets are on sale now. This program is sponsored in part by Barry J. Polzin Architects. For more information call 906-226-3571 or visit marquettehistory.org. See olmsted200.org to learn more about the yearlong nation-wide series.