Pioneer Information
Born in Brandon, Vermont, Button graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in civil engineering in 1887. He was employed by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1889 as an engineer and construction superintendent, where he remained for nearly a decade. In 1903, Button joined the practice of landscape architect O.C. Simonds. The two collaborated on the design for the gardens of Charles Deering’s estate at Buena Vista and the plan for Chicago’s Lincoln Park before Button resigned from the practice in 1920.
After the death of his wife, Button and his daughter moved to Florida, where beginning in 1921, he played an instrumental role in the design and planning for George Merrick’s City Beautiful-inspired town of Coral Gables, south of Miami. His master plan and design for the Mediterranean-influenced garden city included plans for parkways, canals, gardens and recreational facilities. His planting plans incorporated native plants which he skillfully integrated with tropical and imported specimens, a design concept which he espoused in his 1921 article Suburb Beautiful. Button continued to accept commissions until his untimely death in 1938 while supervising work onsite in Coral Gables. His body was sent to Chicago, where he was interred in O.C. Simonds plot at Graceland Cemetery.
Button was named a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1910.
