Mr. Olmsted's Design

Louisville's first park was created in 1880 after exhuming bodies buried at a site at Jefferson and Eleventh Street.  The land became Baxter Square Park.   Andrew Cowan was one of Louisville's prominent businessmen.  Mr. Cowan communicated with Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. in 1891 about planning parks in general and with the thought of building parks for the city of Louisville.  Mr. Olmsted had designed the park in the interior of the Quartermaster Depot in Jeffersonville, Indiana in 1873.

Mr. Olmsted Sr. planned the system of eighteen parks and six tree lined parkways that connect them in the Louisville community in Kentucky.  Mr. Olmsted planned the parks system in collaboration with his partners before his retirement in 1895. 

In a report from the firm provided to the city in 1891, the site for Iroquois Park was described as a place "of sequestered character-a treasure of sylvan scenery." Though built before automobiles were in use for transportation much of the layout can be seen today. The park system has been a place for recreation and appreciation for people for over a hundred years. 

Iroquois Park has  a high knob in the central portion of its area.  At several locations stone steps are set in the hillside.  These steps are said to be a part of the Olmsted design for the Iroquois Park landscape.

Steps - Iroquois Park

Iroquois Park - Louisville Metro

Wildflower with Fall Foliage - Iroquois Park - Louisville Metro

The steep slopes of the knob are populated with American Beech, Fagus Grandifolia. The beech's bark is smooth. In contrast to many trees the outside of the tree continues to grow as the inside of the tree increases in size. Most trees shed portions of bark over time but the beech does not.

Some parts of the slope have Virginia Pine, Pinus Virginiana. These trees are a Kentucky native tree and are commonly seen where land that was once farm land is slowly becoming a habitat for trees. The Virginia Pines of Iroquois have adapted to the dry, rocky areas where many trees would have difficulty getting established.

Some of the trees at the edge of the slope near the golf course are yellow poplars, Liriodendron tuliphera. These trees produce large orange flowers that usually bloom in May. Yellow poplars are said to be more abundant in Kentucky than any other state.