Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens in South Park grew from plans begun in 1868 with Frederick Law Olmsted and his partners, then took shape as South Park was developed on 156 acres between 1894 and 1900. Its centerpiece, the South Park Conservatory, was built from 1897 to 1899 by Lord and Burnham as a large tri-domed Victorian greenhouse, one of only two such surviving designs in America. Olmsted envisioned formal gardens near the conservatory and naturalistic grounds beyond. Botanist John F. Cowell shaped the collections through plant production and decades of collecting. After opening, the gardens gained national attention during Buffalo’s 1901 Pan-American Exposition.