Ezra C. Stiles (September 26, 1891 – January 27, 1974)
/ref> 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 ...

. He also worked as an urban planner, writer, mapmaker, and painter. A descendant of

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

president

Ezra Stiles Ezra Stiles ( – May 12, 1795) was an American educator, academic, Congregationalist minister, theologian, and author. He is noted as the seventh president of Yale College (1778–1795) and one of the founders of Brown University. According ...

, Ezra Clarke Stiles was born in

Painted Post, New York Painted Post is a village in Steuben County, New York. The village is in the town of Erwin, west of the city of Corning. The population was 1,809 at the 2010 census. The name comes from a Seneca carved post found by explorers at the junction ...

, and graduated from

Penn State #Redirect 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 campu ...

in 1914 with a degree in Forestry and Landscape Architecture. He began as a community planner in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, as an employee of John Nolan, a landscape architect in Boston. In 1915, he moved to

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, to become a draftsman for A.W. Smith, a garden design and florist firm. In 1926, Stiles founded a landscape architecture firm in Pittsburgh, and ultimately became known as one of the region's top landscape architects. Among his clients were prominent Pittsburgh families (the Scaifes, Corsons, Frownes, and Garmens); corporations ( Carnegie Steel Works and Rockwell Manufacturing Corporation), universities (

Furman University Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...

), and city planners (he designed two city parks to mark Pittsburgh's bicentennial). In 1938, he laid out the McKeesport Rose Garden and Arboretum in the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

suburb of

McKeesport, Pennsylvania McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers and within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 17,727 as of the 2020 census. It ...

. In the 1960s, Stiles' firm worked with two others to expand the Allegheny County park system. Stiles wrote at least three books:
''Framing the Home Landscape''
with Pittsburgh Steel Company (1929). 20 pp.
''Rock Gardening for the Small Place''
(Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1935) 94 pp.
''The Silver Sturgeon''
He and historian Paul C. Bowman drew

of the

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...

's participation in World War I's Meuse-Argonne Offensive; it is preserved by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. Other maps depicted Pittsburgh in 1899 and

Frick Park Frick Park is the largest municipal park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, covering . It is one of Pittsburgh's four historic large parks. History The park began when Henry Clay Frick, upon his death in 1919, bequeathed south of Clayto ...

in 1938.Pictorial map Frick Park, 1938
/ref> He had at least one son, Ezra C. Stiles Jr. (1921-1957), who served as a captain in the

U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. Some of Stiles' papers and drawings are preserved by the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stiles, Ezra C. American landscape architects 1891 births 1974 deaths People from Painted Post, New York