HISTORY

Olmsted's design constraints at Highland Park were that sizable acreage was not immediately available, the topography did not provide areas to be used as meadows, some horticultural material was already in place, additions had to be compatible with an arboretum and the large Mt. Hope reservoir, already on the site, had to be accommodated in the planning.
Highland Park is a part of the Pinnacle Range, a moraine that resulted from glacial deposits of sand and gravel. To preserve these features, one of Olmsted's first steps was the preparation of a topographical map. Calvin C. Laney, a civil engineer, was appointed Superintendent of the Parks in April of 1889 and he surveyed the park.
Olmsted designed an entry at South Avenue on the ridge of the moraine. The appearance was formal with evenly spaced trees lining either side of the street, somewhat reminiscent of a French alle. Where the present gatehouse for the reservoir is located, the road divided into curves to provide more divergent access within the park. A curved road also provided an entry from South Goodman Street. A circle at the apex of the hill afforded panoramic views as far as Lake Ontario to the north and the Bristol Hills to the south.
The opportunity for enjoying the scenic vistas was enhanced by a pavilion dedicated in the First Park Ceremony in 1890 to the children of Rochester by Ellwanger and Barry. It was designed by the Boston firm of Shepley, Rutan and Cooledge under the supervision of Frederick Law Olmsted. The building, a large, tiered, circular, wooden structure, created controversy when George W. Elliot, a member of the Parks Commission, privately submitted to Olmsted his own design based on the Greek cross. Elliot wanted to provide healthful conditions and attractive atmosphere for women and children. Exposure to fresh air were particularly desirable, because he had lost two children to cholera. This left Olmsted with an awkward dilemma, and he, of course, had to let Dr. Moore was able to implement the Olmsted design. Lack of maintenance weakened the pavilion and it was destroyed in the 1960s.
In 1894, a two-story building west of the pavilion was built which combined two separate functions. Placed below the hill from the pavilion, the second story was a refectory, or cafeteria, and the first floor provided office space and maintenance equipment. The upper story has been removed, but the first story can be seen today.
John Dunbar, a horticulturist, was appointed foreman of Highland Park in 1891, and in January, 1895, he became Assistant Superintendent. Flowering and fruiting shrubs hardy enough to survive winters in Monroe County, were planted on the south slope. Ellwanger and Berry gave a specimen of every kind of plant in their nursery, and purchases by Dunbar included plant material from Germany, England, and France.
Dr. C. S. Sargent, director of the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, visited Rochester in 1902 and offered seedlings of trees and shrubs collected by E. H. Wilson on a visit to China. unbar selected 368 species of these trees and shrubs. The Arnold Arboretum provided Rochester with plant material that allowed near-duplication of itself. Although Olmstead recommended selected plants in his original plans, the plantings in Highland Park far exceeded the number and variety of the modest recommendations he made.
The H. G. Warner estate, located to the west of South Avenue and adjacent to Highland Park, was acquired in 1907. Many years before Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. noted that this land would make a fine part. Still, Highland Park, to him, was not a "proper" park because it lacked water that appeared to spring from natural sources.
In 1910, Mary A. S tarbuck willed $20,000 to construct a greenhouse at Highland Park in memory of her brother-in-law, Alexander B. Lamberton, president of the Board of Park Commissioners from 1902 to 1918. The recently expanded and remodeled conservatory built in 1911, is one few remaining structures from the Olmsted era.
In 1902, Olmsted's son, John, visited the new Highland Park gatehouse at the reservoir. He objected to the protrusion of the building that blocked the sidewalk, but he was unable to change the plan as work had progressed too far. He also objected to the pale yellow brick because it was out of harmony with the park scenery, but he did approve of the stone terrace for the north front. This building exists today without major changes.
Highland Park's design represented a compromise between the arboretum desired by its donors, nurserymen George Ellwanger and Patrick Barry, and the subtly sublime pastoral landscape preferred by Olmsted, according to a 1908 park commissioner's report. Its primary motif -hill top exhilaration- was formally established on September 29, 1890, when 10,000 children dedicated a wooden observation pavilion at the 100-foot apex of the highest hill to all the children of Rochester.
South-facing slopes became an arboretum of low-growing trees and shrubs with extensive donations from Elwanger & Barry's nurseries. Northern slopes received an alpine look and became a pinetum that was eventually to include a specimen of each coniferae that can live among us.
Crowds from the city and train loads of country visitors came each spring to Highland Park to view the lilacs, rhododendrons and peonies. In fulfillment of Olmsted's prophecy that someday visitors will make it a point to stop off at "Rochester's parks", distinguished horticulturalists came to admire what one called "the finest collection of trees and shrubs in the world."