The lands on which the Buffalo parks were to be laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted and his partner, Calvert Vaux, were not “ready made” sites simply awaiting the placement of a few trees and shrubs. The lands selected for the parks were promising, but were such as a blank canvas, tubes of paint and some brushes are to a fine painting. The Park – now Delaware Park – had no island dotted lake nor open rolling meadow; rather, Scajaquada Creek cut across it. The Parade, while a relatively flat and open expanse, was anything but a large flat ground ready for the planned military marching displays. Before plantings, paths and supporting structures could be completed, extensive site work was required. That is where George K. Radford entered the picture at Buffalo.
George Kent Radford was born in September 1826, at Plymouth, Devon, England. His father, William Manly Radford, was an established civil engineer practicing in London. His early years as a professional engineer were spent working with his father, and later, with his brother Edward. He was the resident engineer at construction on the Regent’s Canal, his work there including overseeing a new entrance and other locks, the enlargement of the basin and reservoirs, and installation of hydraulic machinery. He worked with his younger brother, Edward C. Radford, for James M. Rendel, a prominent London civil engineer from 1852 to 1853. The Radford brothers left Rendel’s practice in early 1853 and opened their own architectural office in London.
The brothers closed their London practice in 1854 and emigrated to Toronto, Canada. Soon after arrival, George won a competition to the design new intakes for the Toronto Water Works, a private firm supplying water to the city. By 1856, he was appointed as manager of the water works, while also advertising himself as an architect and civil engineer in the Toronto directory. In 1857, the Radford brothers opened their own architectural office in Toronto, G. K. & E. Radford, Architects and Civil Engineers. Their received a few residential commissions, but their most significant design was for St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Toronto. That Gothic Revival church has been recognized as a Canadian national historic site, and still stands although converted to non-ecclesiastical use. The brothers’ collaboration lasted until July 1858, when Edward decided to return to England, leaving George working on his own in Toronto until December of that year.
George followed his brother back to England in 1859, remaining there until 1864. He married while there, and began a family. Then he again crossed the Atlantic, this time emigrating to the United States and settling in New York City. He became employed by the firm of Olmsted & Vaux as an associate. As he advanced with the firm, he was entrusted to serve as the firm’s local supervisor for their major planned community project at Riverside, Illinois beginning in 1868. By 1870, Radford moved to Buffalo, again on behalf of Olmsted and Vaux. There he initially assisted Olmsted & Vaux with the early layout and plans for the proposed new system of Buffalo parks. The firm then recommended him to the Park Board as the supervising engineer for the project after the plan was adopted, citing that he was “… a gentleman of superior ability in his profession … is well-known and was engaged as engineer”. The Park Board did engage him, with the title of “Chief Engineer”. He served the Park Board in that capacity until March 15, 1873, when the majority of the engineering work on the new parks had effectively been completed, Radford concluded his position with the Park Board and departed from Buffalo.
From March 1873 until 1874, Radford returned to employment with Frederick Law Olmsted (the firm of Olmsted, Vaux, and Company having been dissolved in 1872), working from New York City. On September 19, 1873, Olmsted received an urgent commission from the Northern Pacific Railroad Company to draw up plans for an entirely new city at its terminus in Tacoma, Washington. Radford was dispatched to examine the challenging site, and sent his recommendations back to Olmsted at the New York City office. Their joint plan called for a central park and broad sweeping drives, and was delivered in just over a month from their engagement. Unfortunately, the railroad decided that a more conventional street plan would more quickly allow them to sell lots and shore up its badly flagging finances. The plan was rejected at the end of December, and Radford returned to New York.
Soon after, in 1874, Calvert Vaux offered a full partnership in his own firm to Radford. During the next 18 years, the new firm of Vaux & Radford collaborated on a wide variety of institutional and residential projects, and also pursued work through various architectural competitions.
The first major project the partners worked on were a pair of proposals for the huge main exhibition building for the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was a graded competition in multiple rounds, and forty-three entries were received by 15 July 1873. The Vaux & Radford design was one of ten designs invited to compete in the second round. The plan they submitted for that round elaborated on their first with additional elements added, but was not modified to incorporate a portion of the building as a permanent structure which would remain as “Memorial Hall” after the temporary main pavilion was removed at the end of the exhibition was specified in the rules. While the firm argued that such a provision was unwise and that the two structures should be separately designed and constructed, their plan was disqualified. However, their work drew significant admiration from the exposition planners that they proposed that the first Vaux & Radford design should be combined with the design of another well regarded competitor and the two firms work in collaboration. Vaux & Radford declined, and other firms designed the main exhibition building and (separately) the Memorial Hall (oddly, acceding to Vaux & Radford’s position on the latter structure.)
George K. Radford retired and left New York in 1893 and he moved to Berkeley, California. There he died on 31 March 1908 at the age of 82. He is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.
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