George E. Creed

Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Creed attended Pennsylvania State University for a year, before transferring to Ohio State University, where he graduated with a B.A. in landscape architecture in 1932. He subsequently worked as a landscape foreman for the Civilian Conservation Corps, supervising projects at Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, and the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. He continued to work in the nation’s capital, serving as a landscape architect, first with the National Park Service’s Eastern Branch of Plans and Designs and then with National Capital Parks. Working in Washington, Creed was involved in several projects, including Meridian Hill Park and Franklin Park. After traveling throughout Europe for six months in 1937 Creed returned to Washington where he briefly served as a landscape inspector for the U.S Housing Authority. He relocated to Ohio, working first for the Ohio State Highway Department, designing roadside parks and planting plans, then in the office of A.D. Taylor and Associates.

In 1942 Creed enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in WWII as a combat engineer unit commander and reconnaissance officer. After the war, Creed returned to Ohio, becoming the landscape architect for the City of Cleveland, a position he held for two-dozen years. Working for the city, Creed prepared a Lakefront Development Master Plan and designed myriad parks playgrounds, and public spaces, including the Cleveland Public Library Eastman Reading Garden. Creed served as the president of the Western Reserve Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) for two years and acted as the treasurer for six years. Beginning in 1957, Creed wrote and illustrated a column, “It’s Your Landscape,” for syndicated newspapers, educating the public about landscape architecture and residential landscape design. He penned the column for 25 years, producing 1300 articles and accompanying drawings. Creed helped establish the Ohio Registration Law for Landscape Architecture in the 1960s, established his own practice in 1970, and became a Fellow of ASLA in 1984. He passed away in 1992 and is buried in Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland.