John Nolen
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John Nolen (June 14, 1869 – February 18, 1937) was an American landscape architect, planning consultant, founding member of the American City Planning Institute and a writer. Born in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, Nolen was orphaned as a child and placed in
Girard College Girard College is an independent college preparatory five-day boarding school located on a 43-acre campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school was founded and permanently endowed from the shipping and banking fortune of Stephen Girard upon ...
. After he graduated first in his class in 1884, he worked as a grocery clerk and secretary to the Girard Estate Trust Fund before enrolling in the Wharton School of Finance and Economics at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
in 1891. Nolen earned a Ph.B. in 1893, and for the next ten years worked as secretary of the American Society for the Extension of University Teaching. He married Barbara Schatte in 1896. In 1903 Nolen sold his house and used the money to enroll in the newly established
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
School of Landscape Architecture, under the famed instructors Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.,
Arthur Shurtleff Arthur Asahel Shurcliff (1870–1957) was a noted American landscape architect. Born Arthur Asahel Shurtleff, he changed his last name in 1930 in order, he said, to conform to the "ancient spelling of the family name". After over 30 years of succes ...
, and B.M. Watson. He received an A.M. in 1905 from Harvard.


Early career

He established an office in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
where he and his associates branched out into
city planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
, as well as landscape architecture. Nolen was a frequent lecturer on city and town planning, and was active in many professional organizations, including the American City Planning Institute (now
American Institute of Planners The American Planning Association (APA) is a professional organization representing the field of urban planning in the United States. APA was formed in 1978, when two separate professional planning organizations, the American Institute of Pla ...
),
American Civic Association The American Planning and Civic Association (APCA) was an American organization for improving living conditions in the United States, with an emphasis on improving the physical and structural growth of communities. Its purpose was briefly state ...
(now Urban America),
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 ...
, American Society of Planning Officials, International Garden Cities and Town-Planning Federation, National Conference on City Planning (now Urban America), and the Town Planning Institute of England. Nolen completed a number of projects in
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
as well as earlier efforts in
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
, and particularly,
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. His prestige as an innovative
urban planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...
was firmly established. By 1919, Nolen had written two books, edited two others, and published dozens of articles. In 1927, he was elected president of the National Conference on City Planning. Nolen was the official landscape architect to such municipalities as Kingsport
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
;
Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
;
Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...
;
Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...
;
Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...
;
Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...
;
San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
;
New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...
;
Bristol, Connecticut Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, southwest-west of Hartford. The city is also 120 miles southwest from Boston, and approximately 100 miles northeast of New York City. As of the 2020 census, th ...
;
Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
; and
Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...
.


Comprehensive city planning

After his success with
Mariemont, Ohio Mariemont (pronounced ) is a village in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. It includes two overlapping historic districts, Village of Mariemont and Mariemont Historic District. Named for its founder, Mary Emery, Mariemont exhibits English ...
, Nolen moved on to Florida to plan what he called, "the last frontier." In February 1922, he contracted with St. Petersburg to design Florida's first comprehensive plan. The city, he found, occupied a "site blessed by a benevolent Nature" and possessing "the same characteristics as southern France." After signing the contract, Nolen wrote an associate, "This seems to be an opportunity to do rather more than we have ever been given the chance to do before." In March 1923, Nolen completed an ambitious plan to imbue this resort city of 15,000 with a "form and flavor unlike that of other places." A greenbelt of preserves and parks encircled the lower third (45 square miles) of the Pinellas Peninsula, setting the city's "natural boundaries" and creating a lure for tourists. He also presented plans to improve traffic connections and establish a Civic Center. Mixed-use neighborhood centers were clustered to prevent the unsightly spread of commercial uses and traffic problems along city thoroughfares. A system of parkways united the city, providing pedestrian access to parks and local neighborhood centers with store groups, churches, and public buildings. Nolen's plan rested on the "adequate control of private development." He proposed a series of land use controls to ensure that development followed the efficient outlay of public facilities, rather than outline speculative desires. Without these regulations, Nolen was hardly sanguine about the city's future. "It has been said and with reason," he wrote, "that man is the only animal who desecrates the surroundings of his own habitation." In the midst of the great Florida land boom, the desire to make quick profits outweighed any lofty notion of city building. Moreover, the idea of investing public funds to improve the squalid conditions in "the colored section" found little sentiment in a place, where one anti-planning editor advocated replacing black laborers (17 percent of the population) with immigrants from the "agricultural sections of England." In a referendum, Nolen's planning initiative received only 13 percent of the vote. The St. Petersburg experience disheartened Nolen, but he remained optimistic. His firm worked on 54 projects in Florida, including city plans for Clearwater, Sarasota, and West Palm Beach, new town plans for Clewiston and Bellaire, and neighborhood plans for University Park (Gainesville) and San Jose Estates (Jacksonville). In 1925, Nolen finally found in "Venice an opportunity better ... than any other in Florida to apply the most advanced and most practical ideas of regional planning." Nolen planned Venice for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE), a labor union looking to capitalize on the land boom. The BLE, however, was also investing for the long term. BLE officials envisioned a regional center for agriculture and light industry, "a place where the ordinary man could have a chance to get all that the rich have ever been able to get out of Florida." "Nature led the way" and the plan, Nolen wrote, "followed her way." Greenbelts protected important natural features, and parkways extended from the hinterlands into Venice's downtown (Figure 1). A greenbelt bounded the town to the east and south, while Venice Bay marked the northern edge and the Gulf of Mexico lay to the west. Nolen paid special attention to the town's Gulf front location. A linear park ran along the waterfront, with an amphitheater and beachfront park lying at the terminus of Venice Parkway, which connected the beach to the Civic Center. The Civic Center's grouping of parks and public buildings offered a view of the Gulf and marked the western edge of the commercial core. From this point east, Venice Parkway narrowed to Venice Avenue, which ran the center of a three-block commercial core between the Civic Center and Rialto Avenue. The Civic Center not only defined the town center, but it stood midway between the commercial core and Venice's most sublime natural feature — the Gulf of Mexico. In Venice, Nolen effectively balanced his design between two transcendental ideals — civic virtue and Nature. From City Hall, one could view the palette of Nature while surrounded by the physical form of the "civic spirit." An ideal site for contemplation, a vision of Nature was always at hand, but it never remained the same, shifting with the tides and the seasons. Two diagonal avenues defined the neighborhoods lying between the Gulf and the Civic Center. School sites and the commercial center provided focal points for neighborhoods. Common greens and playgrounds were provided in each neighborhood, while a wedge-shaped golf course buffered the eastern section of town from the railway and industrial uses. Nolen also placed Harlem Village east of the railway, surrounding it with "white farms." Segregation was a staple of southern life, and if Nolen failed to fight the southern caste system directly, he remained adamant that African-Americans receive the benefits of good planning. In Venice, like other southern cities, he connected
African-American neighborhood African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American. ...
s to the larger community via a parkway. In cities separated by race, interconnected parkways offered the hope of uniting diverse people through "nature" and to, Nolen wrote, "the brotherhood of man." The BLE invested heavily in infrastructure, before the land boom crashed in 1927. Nolen's plan remained a guiding vision (although Harlem Village was nixed), and Venice stands as the most complete example of the Garden City in Florida. Neighborhoods segregated by class and cost were connected by parkways and linked to the Civic Center. Combining the lines of Nature with a civic orientation, Venice offered, Nolen wrote, "an inspiration to those who would make this world a better place to live." At the 1926 National City Planning Conference, held in St. Petersburg, Nolen presented Venice in his presidential address, "New Communities to Meet New Conditions." More than any other state, Nolen believed, Florida needed "a state plan" to "regulate reasonably" the location of future towns and cities. Nolen envisioned a state of interconnected garden cities based on Venice's regional and town plan. Although Nolen's agenda never moved beyond the conference, his vision drew admirers. A year later, Lewis Mumford, in the keynote address to the same conference, proclaimed, "At least one planner realizes where the path of intelligent and humane achievement will lead during the next generation." Both Mumford and Nolen advocated regional planning and the new town as the means to channel urbanization into a higher level of civilization. They also saw planning as an art form that revealed mankind's highest aspirations. "City design" could only "succeed," Mumford remarked in his conclusion, "when the city planner tries to fathom and express ... what the best life possible is." John Nolen died at his home in Cambridge on February 18, 1937.


Impact on Wisconsin

Nolen developed plans for the
University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
, the city of
Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
, and the state park system. His comprehensive approach blended social, economic, and physical aspects of urban life with the preservation of natural beauty. He felt strongly that: His plan for the city of Madison is considered a preeminent example of the urban landscape movement. Nolen later cited the grounds surrounding
Worcester College Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...
as an inspiration for his plans for Madison. In 1908, John Olin of the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association contacted Nolen for advice in laying out Madison city parks. Without the money to pay Nolen, Olin enlisted the support of the city, the University of Wisconsin, and the state. Together, they devised a contract to have Nolen make recommendations for the beautification of each. Perhaps Nolen's most important contribution, though, was his plan for a state park system. Having seen the rapid deforestation of northern Wisconsin, the depletion of mineral resources in the southwest, and increasing urban development, Nolen was hired not only to find locations for parks but also to provide a reason for their existence. He recommended the creation of four state parks and provided guidelines for the establishment of a state park system.Wisconsin Historical Society
John Nolen
accessed February 9, 2009.
Nolen's legacy lives on in Madison. One of Madison's main thoroughfares, John Nolen Drive, is named after him. A
strava Strava is an American internet service for tracking physical exercise which incorporates social network features. It is mostly used for cycling and running using Global Positioning System data. Strava uses a freemium model with some features on ...
cycling segment, named "John Nolen" in his honor, is a 1.4 mile stretch of bike path adjacent to John Nolen Drive. Nolen Shore, a twelve-story, high-rise building named after him, was completed in 2006.
Tenney Park-Yahara River Parkway Tenney may refer to: People * Anne Tenney, actress * Asa Wentworth Tenney, federal judge * Charles Daniel Tenney, American educator and diplomat to China * Charles H. Tenney, "City Father" in Methuen, Massachusetts; hat merchant and banker, New ...
, which Nolen helped design, is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.


Bibliography

* New Ideals in the Planning of Cities Towns and Villages (1919) * New Towns for Old (1927)


Further reading

* Beck, Jody. ''John Nolen and the Metropolitan Landscape''. London: Routledge, 2013. Print. * Nolen, John.
New Towns for Old
'. Amherst: Library of American Landscape History and University of Massachusetts Press, 2005. * Stephenson, R. Bruce. "The Roots of the New Urbanism: John Nolen's Garden City Ethic." ''Journal of Planning History'', vol. 1, no. 2, 99-123 (2002). * Stephenson, R. Bruce.
John Nolen: Landscape Architect and City Planner
'. Amherst: Library of American Landscape History and University of Massachusetts Press, 2015. * Stephenson, R. Bruce. ''Visions of Eden: Environmentalism, Urban Planning and City Building in St. Petersburg, Florida, 1900-1995''. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1997.


References


External links


1922 Plan of Asheville, North Carolina
by John Nolen
1920 Plan of Bristol, Connecticut
by John Nolen

byJohn Nolen
Madison : a model city
UW-Madison TEI edition, July 2000
Papers of the Nolen-Schatte family, 1886-1990 (inclusive), 1886-1954 (bulk)

Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nolen, John 1869 births 1937 deaths American landscape architects Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni American urban planners Architects from Philadelphia Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni