"Planting Map for Cortile at Jeffersonville
Depot, Ind. of the Quartermaster's Department, U.S.A."
By Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., April 1874
Ink on tracing linen
39" x 38" National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Office
of the Chief of Engineers
Olmsted Planting Map Maj. J.D. Bingham, Acting Quartermaster General,
asked Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., the famous designer of Central Park
in New York City, to design a planting scheme for the cortile or courtyard
at the Jeffersonville Quartermaster's depot in Indiana. Bingham requested
a landscape plan that could be implemented over a period of years. His
preference was for a mix of ornamental and useful plants, which would
thrive in the protected courtyard. He instructed that the area must always
be under the supervision of a watchman whose view of the storeroom doors
should not be obstructed. Olmsted listed the plants he chose on the drawings.