Eminence

History

The term eminence, indicating an elevated rise or hill, functioned in landscape design as a site for monuments, dwellings, and other structures, and as a topographic feature in the landscape. While the terms “mound” and “mount” were also used to describe a raised portion of a garden, an eminence generally denoted a natural feature that was larger in scale.

As a building platform for a dwelling or a garden structure, an eminence created the opportunity to view the surrounding land.scape from the garden. This raised feature also enhanced the prominence of any struc.ture on it, thus making it visible from a distance (see Prospect and View). Both effects were noted by visitors to Mount Vernon, which William Russell Birch in 1808 described as “founded upon a rocky eminence, a dignified height on the Potomac” [Fig. 1]. Garden structures, such as the tower (proposed in 1831) at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass., the rustic pavilion recommended by A. J. Downing (1848), and the fanciful building depicted in the 1790s by Joseph Steward at Dartmouth College [Fig. 2], were placed on eminences to provide a retreat in which to enjoy the prospect.

In addition to their enhanced visual and, by extension, social status, properties built on eminences were more easily defensible in America’s frontier settings and took advan.tage of cooling breezes in warmer climates. Structures on eminences also offered visual command of an estate, as noted in the 1817 advertisement of a farm in Culpeper County, Va. Such surveillance was a vital part of maintaining the plantation labor system of large slave populations. In urban settings, town planners sited key monuments on emi.nences, making them focal points in the townscape and thus accentuating seats of power. For example, Francis Nicholson in 1694 placed the Anglican church and the colonial Capitol on eminences in his town plan of Annapolis, Md., and Pierre-Charles L’Enfant’s plan for Washington, D.C., was predicated upon an elevated setting for the capitol building.

As a topographical landscape feature, the eminence served as a focal point, a viewing platform, and a backdrop, like the “parklike eminences” in Cincinnati, Ohio, described by Harriet Martineau in 1835. At Mount Auburn Cemetery, the eminence rising 125 feet above the Charles River was described in 1831 by H.A.S. Dearborn as “a prominent and imposing feature in the landscape, of which it becomes the centre.” An eminence, such as the one described by Rev. Manasseh Cutler at Gray’s Tavern in Philadelphia in 1787, also offered a gradual slope against which to plant a variety of flowers and shrubs. An eminence was also significant in American gardens for establishing the relationship of the garden to the surrounding landscape and for capitalizing on views of broad rivers, valleys, and other features of the “New World” setting. Sites on riverbank eminences, such as that at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia depicted in 1838, were particularly valued for their views of water [Fig. 3].

-- Elizabeth Kryder-Reid

Texts

Usage

• Cutler, Rev. Manasseh, 30 June 1787, describ.ing the estate of Charles Wyllys Elliott, near Hart.ford, Conn. (1987: 1:211)

“I also called on my classmate, Colonel Hezekiah Wyllys. He lives with his father, Colonel Wyllys, the Secretary of the State, in an elegant seat just outside the city, situated on a high eminence which over.looks the city and commands a most enchanting prospect of the river, meandering through rich meadows and fertile fields, for ten or fifteen miles. The landscape from this seat far exceeds any I have ever seen in any part of the country.”

• Cutler, Rev. Manasseh, 14 July 1787, describing Gray’s Tavern, Philadelphia, Pa. (1987: 1:276)

“We at length came to a considerable emi.nence, which was adorned with an infinite variety of beds of flowers and artificial groves of flowering shrubs.”

• Enys, Lt. John, 12 February 1788, describing Mount Vernon, plantation of George Washing.ton, Fairfax County, Va. (Cometti, ed., 1976: 246)

“From hence is one of the most delightfull Prospects I ever beheld. It had the Command of a View each way of some Miles up and down the River

Potowmack whch [sic] is here about two Miles broad On which during the Summer there are constantly ships moving. The Hills arrownd it are coverd with plantations some of which have Elegant houses standing on them all of which being situated on Eminences form very beautifull Objects for each other.”

• Anonymous, 2 October 1798, describing in the Virginia Herald a property for sale in Spotsylvania County, Va. (Colonial Williambsurg Foundation; hereafter CWF)

“The improvements on it are, a comfortable dwelling house, with all necessary out houses, sit.uated on a beautiful eminence, commanding a view of the greater part of the lower ground.”

• La Rochefoucauld Liancourt, François.Alexandre-Frédéric, duc de, 1799, describing the Woodlands, seat of William Hamilton, near Philadelphia, Pa. (quoted in Madsen 1988: B3)

“You pass the Schuylkill at Gray’s-Ferry, the road to which runs below Woodlands, the seat of Mr. William Hamilton: it stands high, and is seen upon an eminence from the opposite side of the river.”

• Anonymous, 27 March 1803, describing in the Virginia Herald a property for sale in Westmore-land, Va. (CWF)

“FOR SALE, the Tract of Land, whereon I reside . . . stand on an eminence, commanding a beautiful and extensive view of the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers.”

• Birch, William Russell, 1808, describing Mount Vernon, plantation of George Washington, Fairfax County, Va. (n.p.)

“MOUNT VERNON,

“This hallowed mansion is founded upon a rocky eminence, a dignified height on the Potomac. . . . The additions of a piazza to the water front, and of a drawing room, are proofs of the legitimacy of the General’s taste.”

• Anonymous, 24 December 1817, describing in the Virginia Herald a property for sale in Culpeper County, Va. (CWF)

“For sale . . . the dwelling house stands on an eminence, having in view the whole farm.”

• Bryant, William Cullen, 25 August 1821, in a letter to his wife, Frances F. Bryant, describing the Vale, estate of Theodore Lyman, Waltham, Mass. (1975: 108–9)

“He took me to the seat of Mr. Lyman. . . . It is a perfect paradise. . . . A hard rolled walk, by the side of a brick wall . . . led us to a grove of young forest trees on the top of [an] eminence in the midst of which was a Chinese temple.”

• Sheldon, John P., 10 December 1825, describing Fairmount Waterworks, Philadelphia, Pa. (quoted in Gibson 1988: 5)

“The celebrated works on the Schuylkill, by which the water of the river is raised to the top of an eminence which is elevated far above any house in the city, are beyond all praise.”

• Trollope, Frances Milton, 1830, describing Baltimore, Md. (1832: 1:290)

“The noble column erected to the memory of Washington, and the Catholic Cathedral, with its beautiful dome, being built on a commanding eminence, are seen at a great distance.”

• Dearborn, H.A.S., 30 September 1831, describing Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Mass. (quoted in Ward 1831: 46)

“It has been ascertained that the most lofty eminence is one hundred and twenty-five feet above Charles river, which gracefully sweeps round its gently sloping base; and, when crowned by the proposed tower, will become a most interesting place of resort, as commanding an extensive panoramic view of that richly variegated region of magnificent scenery, embraced within the far distant heights which encircle the metropolis, and the waves of the ocean, while it will present a prominent and imposing feature in the landscape, of which it becomes the centre.”

• Martineau, Harriet, 1835, describing a garden in Cincinnati, Ohio (1838: 2:51)

“The proprietor has a passion for gardening, and his ruling taste seems likely to be a blessing to the city. He employs four gardeners, and toils in his grounds with his own hands. His garden is on a terrace which overlooks the canal, and the most parklike eminences form the background of the view. Between the garden and the hills extend his vineyards, from the produce of which he has succeeded in making twelve kinds of wine, some of which are highly praised by good judges.”

• Hovey, C. M., April 1842, “Notes made during a Visit to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, &c.,” describing the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. (Magazine of Horticulture 8: 127)

“The Grounds of the Capitol, which should judge contain about twenty acres, are situated upon an eminence which commands a fine view of the surrounding country, and are laid out with broad avenues of various widths, which intersect one another, and lead to the steps of the Capitol.”

• Trego, Charles, 1843, describing Harrisburg, Pa. (p. 232)

“The public buildings belonging to the State occupy a commanding position on an eminence in the northern part of the town.”

• Cleaveland, Nehemiah, 1847, describing Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Mass. (p. 112)

“THE highest eminence of the cemetery ground is denominated Mount Auburn; and from this elevation the view has been drawn which appears in the present work. In the summer sea.son, when the thick trees have put on their full array, and appear in all their beauty, the panorama is nearly lost to the view of the specta.tor; but in the autumn of the year, a scene is pre.sented from this high land, which is worthy of the poet or the painter.”

• Loudon, J. C., 1850, describing Monticello, plan.tation of Thomas Jefferson, Charlottesville, Va. (Loudon 1850: 331)

“849. Monticello, the seat of Jefferson, is situ.ated on the summit of an eminence commanding extensive prospects on all sides.”

• Horticola [pseud.], March 1852, “Notes on Gardens and Country Seats Near Boston,” describing Oakley Place, seat of William Pratt, Boston, Mass. (Horticulturist 7: 127)

“The mansion house is approached by a noble avenue of trees, and stands on the brow of an emi.nence overlooking the whole country around.”

• Watson, John Fanning, 1857, describing the resi.dence of Edward Shippen, Philadelphia, Pa.

(1:368)

“It was for many years after its construction beautifully situated, and surrounded with rural beauty, being originally on a small eminence, with a row of tall yellow pines in its rear, a full orchard of best fruit trees close by, overlooking the rising city beyond the Dock creek, and having on its front view a beautiful green lawn, gently sloping to the then pleasant Dock creek and Drawbridge, and the whole prospect unobstructed to the Delaware and the Jersey shore.”