Pioneer Information
Born in Callander, Scotland, Blair apprenticed at Lanrick Castle in Doune before emigrating to St. Catherine鈥檚, Ontario in 1851 to work as a landscape gardener. In 1854, he was approached by John Holland, who proposed that Blair design the grounds for his new home in Rockford, Illinois. Further commissions in the area followed, including landscape design for the Elgin Mental Health Center. In 1865, Blair traveled to Chicago, where he produced a horticultural exhibit for the Sanitary Fair. Eventually he moved to Chicago and began work for the Chicago Parks Department as Superintendant of Parks. He was instrumental in the creation of the West Side Park system, and also designed the grounds for the Oak Park home of H.W. Austin Sr. and for his own home, which he would later sell to Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1871, he accompanied Austin to Colorado Springs, where he was introduced to railroad magnate and city founder General William Palmer. Palmer commissioned Blair to lay out much of the city, including parks, cemeteries, roads and trails, as well as Palmer鈥檚 own private estate, Glen Eyrie. Blair鈥檚 designs utilized rocks, trees, water, and rustic structural features to create naturalistic landscapes. As a master stone mason, he erected the first bridge built on public land in Colorado and designed a road through the Garden of the Gods between Manitou Springs and Glen Eyrie. In 1881, Blair departed for Victoria, British Columbia, where he designed Beacon Hill Park and his own final home and garden near Duncan.
