The centerpiece of the Buffalo park system is Delaware Park, originally known simply as "The Park". At 350 acres in size, it is one of the relatively few true parks Frederick Law Olmsted created; to Olmsted, only a very large, naturalistic site which would completely shield the visitor from the bustle and cares of the city could be considered a "park". It was also the first park for which Olmsted was given the opportunity to personally select the site to be used. In keeping with all of Olmsted's great parks, Delaware Park has three prime elements: a prominent water feature (the "Gala Water", now named "Hoyt Lake", of 42 acres formed by damming Scajaquada Creek), a large meadow of about 120 acres, and significant wooded areas. The site made great use of three surrounding properties, the Parkside residential community which Olmsted had also laid out, the grounds of Forest Lawn Cemetery, and the grounds of the Buffalo Insane Asylum. Located in what at the time was the outskirts of Buffalo, the park was crossed by only one city street. In a manner similar to his treatment of the traverse roads in New York's Central Park, he kept Delaware Avenue at a lower grade than much of the surrounding park, provided a viaduct to carry the park's carriage road above it, and shielded the park from it by thick plantings. Broad parkways connected this park with The Parade and The Front, the two smaller pleasure grounds of his original Buffalo design.
The Park (now Delaware Park) and Surroundings, 1886.
Olmsted's partner Calvert Vaux contributed the designs for the park's buildings and structures. He prepared plans for a boathouse (constructed in 1875, expanded under the direction of E. L. Holmes in 1885, and demolished in 1900), a large and highly detailed gazebo overlooking the lake (the "Spire House", constructed in 1875 but lost sometime between 1924 and 1951), a dwelling and offices for the park superintendent ("The Farmstead"; constructed in 1875, torn down to provide parking for the zoo in 1950), a pair of elaborate covered seats to shelter park users waiting for boat rides on the lake (constucted in 1875, lost between 1917 and 1951), the Gala Water bridge at the western end of the park lake (constructed in 1874, demolished and replaced by an iron bridge in 1890, theb replaced again in 1901) and a large stone viaduct (built in 1874, replaced with a new viaduct in 1935, also subsequently reconstructed), which carried the park carriage Concourse over Delaware street (now Delaware Avenue). In contrast to his designs for the elaborate Parade House at the Parade, and to an even more embellished (but never built) music stand for the Front, Vaux's structures for the Park were keyed to blending with the landscape. The Spire House was the sole exception, and the role of its pagoda-like form was to provide a bit of whimsy (which was also a hallmark of an Olmsted and Vaux design collaboration.)
Viaduct (1874)
Over Delaware Avenue, Delaware Park.
In 1886 the park was expanded on its southern side by the gift of twelve acres of land between Lincoln Parkway and Rumsey Road in memory of Dexter P. Rumsey, a prominent Buffalo businessman. The new area was heavily wooded, and included a small ravine. Olmsted drew up plans for the addition, which included a stone arch bridge carrying one pedestrian walk over another. This is the bridge better known today as the "ivy bridge" or the "dell span".
Much of Olmsted's design for Delaware Park was damaged by the use of the grounds for the Pan American Exhibition of 1901. In anticipation of the exposition, the wood frame Vaux boat house was replaced by a larger 3-story masonry building, much more prominently sited, designed by E. B. Green. Two large marble structures in the mode of the City Beautiful movement then sweeping the country were also prominently sited within the park - the Historical Society building which served as the New York State pavilion during the exhibition, and the Albright (now Albright-Knox) Art Gallery, which replaced grounds which were formerly the park nursery, adjoining Elmwood avenue and the main park drive. A marble-embellished bridge (complete with plaster lion figures, which were not intended as permanent fixtures) replaced the earlier bridge spanning the Gala Water for the park drive. The park's lake became a "Venetian lagoon", complete with a gondola and an electric fountain. The Pan-American Exhibition occupied the northwest corner of the park, as well as considerable private acreage bordered by Elmwood avenue on the west, Delaware avenue on the east and the belt line railroad tracks to the north. Exhibition gates were set up at the Meadow and at the head of Lincoln Parkway.
A permanent zoological collection was established adjacent to The Farmstead in the 1890s, augmenting the the flock of sheep which grazed upon the park meadow with small herds of deer, elk and American bison and a set of bear pits. Soon after, a large barn structure was erected to support the herds. Then, in the 1930's, the zoo was considerably enlarged as part of a Works Progress Administration project.
A golf course was laid out on the meadow in the early 1900s. A permanent 18-hole course was constructed in 1930, effectively taking over the meadow except for its vista. Any casual use was at risk of both the ire of the players and the trajectory of their golfballs.
Park Bandstand and Vaux Seating, West end of Park Lake, August 1908.
The most significant and massive intrusion onto Omsted's design occurred about 1960, when an expressway was extended across the park, separating it into two sections and bringing the roar of traffic into the heart of the park. As a part of the construction, significant portions of the park lake were filled. The lake, long suffering from upstream pollution, became little more than an open sewer, and retained little of its Olmsted shoreline. An early 1980s effort to clean the lake further reduced the shoreline and tunnelled the pollution bearing waters of the creek underground past the park.
View South across Gala Water (now Hoyt Lake), about 1905.
Efforts to restore the Olmsted design have made progress, but have also met with occasional resistance from competing interests. Considerable strides have been made, and a heightened awareness of Olmsted's intentions has been fostered, but a great deal remains to be done before Delaware Park will again be back to the full glory of its past.
Delaware Park and Surrounding Area, from a 1935 Map.
Delaware Park Photographs, 1902-1908.
© 1989-2007 Stanton M. Broderick