The architect of 2 of the 3 parks in this system and of the Parkway that was created to connect them, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. (1870-1957), was the preeminent American landscape architect of the first half of the twentieth century. His father, Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. (1822-1903) was the leading American landscape architect of the nineteenth century. Together, they powerfully reshaped the face of America–and Olmsted, Jr., fundamentally shaped Utica’s landscape.

Maria Williams Proctor (1853 -1935) and her sister, Rachel (1850-1915), were the heirs to one of the greatest family fortunes in Central New York. Their grandfather, Alfred Munson, was born near Hartford, Connecticut (the hometown of Olmsted, Sr.) and settled in Utica, where he founded the family fortune; using that fortune, the Proctors initiated over a quarter century of work by Olmsted, Jr., and Olmsted Brothers in Utica.