J. Horace McFarland was born in McAlisterville, Pennsylvania on September 24, 1859, the son of Union Army colonel George F.

[1] He lived and worked most of his adult life in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, residing at an estate he named Breeze Hill in the Bellevue Park area of the city.

McFarland and the ACA were a major force promoting civic improvement, environmental conservation, and beautification in the United States.

[2] McFarland helped organize the defense of Niagara Falls from development efforts by power companies, worked to protect Yosemite National Park with the famous environmental preservationist John Muir, who has been hailed as the father of the National Park Service.

[4] He is remembered for a statement at the first Conference of Governors held at the White House, Washington D.C., in 1908: It is the love of country that has lighted and that keeps glowing the holy fire of patriotism.