Today's lawn is a surprisingly recent invention. Early settlers brought the idea of grassy landscapes from Europe, yet most Americans had no lawns before the Civil War. In the 1800s, landscape designers Andrew Jackson Downing and Frederick Law Olmsted promoted broad green spaces, including parks like Central Park. After World War II, the lawn moved from public parks to private yards. Developers often used continuous front lawns, often without fences, to visually tie neighborhoods together, a kind of social experiment designed to create a sense of community.
Growing Home - The Beginning of American Lawns
