City Park is also one of the oldest public spaces in Denver. The park grew out of the social and cultural atmosphere of the late 19th century as Denver residents, business-owners, garden clubs and politicians rallied for the improvement of the dry and dusty Queen City of the Plains. The idea of an “east city park” linked to a “west city park” by a chain of tree-lined parkways first emerged in 1878. In 1882 Henry Meryweather prepared the park's earliest layout and landscape design. His concept followed the precepts of Frederick Law Olmsted, but it was park commissioner Richard Sopris, who managed the park from 1881 to 1891, who is considered the father of the park. Construction of the park began in 1886 with “a sinuous tangle of winding carriageways, walks and promenades” put into place. The arrangement of roads and walks gave the park its pastoral feel, many of which are still in place today.