Garnet Douglass Baltimore (April 15, 1859 – June 12, 1946) was the first African-American engineer and graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, Class of 1881.
[4] During his work on the extension of a lock on the Oswego Canal, Baltimore developed a system to test cement that was adopted as standard by New York State.
[6] Peter and his brother William were active in the Underground Railroad and were prominent figures in the escape of Charles Nalle during his attempted arrest in 1860.
In an article featured in The Times Record of Troy, New York celebrating his 84th Birthday, Baltimore recalled taking refuge in the Holy Cross Episcopal Church on 8th Street with his family and other neighborhood children during the fire.
[8] At his new job, Baltimore was tasked with several assignments including: the Sandy Hill, Granville & Rutland, and Greenwich & Johnsonville railroads.
In 1884, Baltimore was tasked with supervising the extension of the Oswego Canal lock which was known back then as the “mud lock.” During this project, there was a very interesting situation in which the engineers had to deal with the issue of constructing with quicksand as a major obstacle.
[6] In 1903, Baltimore was appointed a position to be a landscape engineer for the public park systems that would earn him a salary of $2,000 a year.
He states, “Is the civic pride of Trojans so deadened that no murmur of regret is heart at this willful neglect?”[11] By the 1940s, several of the original features had already been lost, including the Warren Mansion, Band Stand, and Bascom fountain.
The Friends of Prospect Park formed in 1998 and has attempted to increase popularity and restore its beauty lost over years of neglect.
[12] Baltimore also created the Report of the Municipal Improvements Commission, where he reported: “the primary object of the park is a place where natural beauty can be enjoyed free from the turmoil of the city.” He also noted: “It is the calling and duty of the landscape engineer to devise ways of arranging land and its accompanying landscape so that whatever the particular purpose in view may be, the result shall be as thoroughly beautiful as possible.”[7] "In his later years he made surveys and maps for attorneys of scenes of accidents and crimes, and testified in court about those measurements.