Charles Nassau Lowrie (April 8, 1869 – September 18, 1939) was an American

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

and

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

. He was one of eleven founding members of the

American Society of Landscape Architects The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is a professional association for landscape architects in the United States. The ASLA's mission is to advance landscape architecture through advocacy, communication, education, and fellowship ...

in 1899 and was active in the ''

City Beautiful Movement The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the ...

''.

Biography

Born in Warriors Mark, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, he graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

Sheffield Scientific School Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffield, ...

in 1891. Lowrie was the landscape architect for the

Hudson County, New Jersey Hudson County is the most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in t ...

Park Commission for thirty years and designed several parks for the county's park system, including

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...

and

Pershing Field Pershing Field is a city square and park in the Heights of Jersey City, New Jersey in the United States. Approximately it is adjacent to Jersey City Reservoir No. 3, with which it creates a large open recreational and nature area bounded by ...

in Jersey City, Stephen R. Gregg Hudson County Park in

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

, Columbus Park in

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...

and

West Hudson Park The Hudson County Park System owns and operates several county parks in Hudson County, New Jersey. It has its roots in the City Beautiful movement around the turn of the twentieth century. The system comprises eight parks (the extension of one which ...

Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places In Australia: * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin In Canada: * Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...

. He was a member of the New York's

Municipal Art Society The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) is a non-profit membership organization for preservation in New York City, which aims to encourage thoughtful planning and urban design and inclusive neighborhoods across the city. The organization was ...

. He was in charge of landscaping

Red Hook Houses The Red Hook Houses are two connected public housing complexes located in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York City. Managed by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), they comprise the largest housing development in Brooklyn. The Red Hook Houses ...

, a housing project in Brooklyn. He was on the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...

staff. Lowrie designed the 20th-century master plan for

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

's campus in

Storrs, Connecticut Storrs is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in the New England town, town of Mansfield, Connecticut, Mansfield in eastern Tolland County, Connecticut, Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 15,344 at the 2010 Unite ...

. He made the first master plan developed for University Park,

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

. He was also involved in city planning for

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

Lowrie made preliminary plans for a competition for a Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, DC, which was never built. In 1917, Lowrie was hired by William and Gertrude Ritter to prepare a landscape plan for the grounds of their new home in

Manchester, Vermont Manchester is a town in, and one of two shire towns (county seats) of, Bennington County, Vermont. The population was 4,484 at the 2020 census. Manchester Village, an incorporated village, and Manchester Center are settlement centers within ...

. Known as "Yester House," the property is now home to the

Southern Vermont Arts Center The Southern Vermont Arts Center is a multi-disciplinary arts organization in Manchester, Vermont. It is located on the west side of West Road, at the former Yester House country estate. The center includes art galleries with permanent and rota ...

. Some of his professional papers and architectural plans are archived at Cornell. He died in New York and was buried in

Lawrenceville, New Jersey Lawrenceville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Lawrence Township in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowrie, Charles N. 1869 births 1939 deaths Lowrie Lowrie Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science alumni People from Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania Architects from New York City Parks in Hudson County, New Jersey