John Bogart

The career of John Bogart illustrates yet another side of the American aptitude for important public works. Colonel Bogart was to have been a lawyer; it was a summer spent for his health with the engineer corps of the New York Central which so quickly and strikingly brought to light his talents as landscape architect and engineer that he never thereafter relinquished the profession. The list of his professional work is an extraordinary picture of professional energy. He had a hand with Vaux and the elder Olmsted in constructing Central Park; he built fortifications in the Civil War at Old Point and elsewhere. Later on, and in sequence to a long series of other labors, he was chief engineer of the New York Park Department, New York State Engineer, and chief engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission; he constructed the Washington Bridge, designed the railroad terminals of Buffalo and Toronto, and supervised the harbor works of more than one South American city.

Colonel Bogart’s professional associates are apt to lay more stress upon his capacity on the human side of his profession than on the strictly technical. In those whom he employed he could instill enthusiasm and in those who employed him he could inspire confidence. If work came to him which required special technical knowledge or peculiar skill, Bogart never made the mistake of trying to do it himself, but called in experts who had the qualities required. These characteristics enabled him to conduct a practice very successful both for himself and for his clients. He was a well-read man, a good conversationalist, and a delightful companion.

Alexander Dana Noyes
1921 Century Association Yearbook