People Name: Kessler, George Profession: Architect, Politician Category: Architecture Born/Started: Jul. 16, 1862 Died/Ended: Mar. 19, 1923 Description: George Kessler was born in Bad Frankenhausen, Germany. His parents left in 1865 for Hoboken, NJ, then moved to Dallas. After his father’s death in 1878, young George returned with his mother and sister to Europe, where he studied botany, landscape gardening and engineering for three years. His last year abroad was spent investigating the civic design of major cities from Paris to Moscow. Back in the United States in 1882, Kessler found a few months of work as a gardener in Frederick Law Olmstead’s Central Park, then moved Fort Scott, KS to lay out a pleasure park. In 1893, Kessler proposed a bold plan for the redesign of Kansas City’s street grid, based on a grand system of interwoven boulevards and pars that enhanced the area’s geography. By 1915, his entire proposal had been implemented. Meanwhile, Kessler had moved to St. Louis for a short time to work on landscape plans for the 1904 World’s Fair. After the Fair, he returned to St. Louis to supervise the required restoration of Forest Park. |
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