The Irvin J. McCrar Collection was donated to the Auraria Library Special Collections Department on August 23, 1982. Property rights in the Collection are held by the Auraria Library; literary rights are dedicated to the public. There are no restrictions placed on the use of these materials.
Collection size: 2 Linear Ft.
Number on Containers: 3
Processed by Clarence O. PeCoy
Irvin J. McCrary was born in Denver on March 17, 1885. He graduated from Princeton University and attended Harvard University, then returned to Denver. He worked as a landscape architect in Denver for many years. Mr. McCrary designed parts of the University of Colorado campus in Boulder. He retired as an architect in Denver in 1950 and moved to Vista, California, where he grew avocados and lemons before he retired and moved to La Jolla in 1967. He died in La Jolla on November 5, 1971.
This collection consists of city planning documents collected by Irvin J. McCrary during his career as a prominent Denver Landscape Architect and City Planner. There are 35 city planning documents for cities in England, Canada, and the United States. The oldest is for 1909 and the most recent is for 1947. The documents contain illustrations, maps, photos, descriptions of buildings. The pattern and volume of traffic flow, descriptions of existing and proposed recreational areas, discussions of the legal aspects of proposed changes, information about land and schools, discussions of historical building and sites, sociological analyses, information on bridges, some agricultural information, plans for transit systems, etc. There are also photographs of Cheeseman Park, prior to being landscaped, and of a model for a proposed memorial in honor of Robert Walter Speer.
BOX 1Fd 1 City Plan for Rochester, New York, 1911. Fd 2 Proposed Improvements for Newport, Rhode Island, 1913. Fd 3 Greater Erie - Plans and Reports for the Extension and Improvement of the City, Erie, Pennsylvania, 1913. Fd 4 Chicago's World-Wide Influence in City Planning, Chicago Illinois, 1915. Fd 5 City Plan for Akron, Ohio, 1919. Fd 6 Maps and Diagrams-New York and Its Environs, New York, New York 1923. Fd 7 Photographs of Cheeseman Park, proposed design for a memorial, and a 1947 Guide to the Fine Arts in Denver. Fd 8 Schenectady - Preliminary Report of the City Planning Commission, Schenectady, New York, 1924. Fd 9 Comprehensive City Plan - Sarasota, Florida, 1925. Fd 10 Asheville City Plan - Asheville, North Carolina, 1925. Fd 11 Preliminary Major Street Plan and Transit Plan - Duluth, Minnesota, 1927 Fd 13 Report of the Advisory City Planning Commission of the City of Toronto, Canada, 1929. Fd 14 A Major Street Plan for Rochester, New York, 1929. Fd 15 Planning for the Future of the Harrisburg Area, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1939. BOX 2
Fd 1 A Park System for the City of Cincinnati, Ohio, 1907. Fd 2 City Planning for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1916. Fd 3 Report of the City Planning Bureau of Rochester, New York, 1923. Fd 4 The City Plan of Memphis, Tennessee, 1924. Fd 5 Oklahoma City - A report of its Plan for an Outer Parkway and a plan for an Interior System of Parks and Boulevards, 1910. Fd 6 Houston - Tentative Plans for its Development, Houston, Texas, 1913. Fd 7 Housing Town Planning Act, Birmingham, England, 1909. Fd 8 Akron and its Planning Law, Akron, Ohio, 1919. Fd 9 Town Planning Acts, (North) Birmingham, England, 1909 and 1919. Fd 10 Town Planning Acts, (South) Birmingham, England, 1909 and 1919. Fd 11 A Five-Year Park and Boulevard Program for Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1927. Fd 12 Preliminary Report on a Major Recreational Facilities Plan, Denver, Colorado, 1929. Fd 13 The Denver Plan - Volume 1: 1. Major Streets; 2. Parks and Boulevards; 3. Recreational Facilities, 1929. Fd 14 The Denver Plan - Volume 2: A survey of Traffic, 1931. Fd 15 The Denver Plan - Volume 3: A Study for Mass Transportation, 1932. Fd 16 The Denver Plan - Volume 4: Preliminary Outline for a Regional Plan, 1933. Fd 17 Denver Planning Primer: The Denver Plan, 1934. Fd 18 The Denver Plan: Preliminary Outline for a Regional Plan, Second Edition, 1936. Fd 19 The Denver Plan - Volume 5: Regional Center for Federal Activities, 1937. Fd 20 Denver Planning Primer - Volume 6: Revised Edition, 1940. Fd 21 The Denver Plan - Volume 7: The Problem of Decentralization and Disintegration in Cities, 1941. BOX 3
Fd 1 A major Street Plan for St. Louis, May, 1917. Fd 2 Special Report for the Blue Valley Parkway, Kansas City, Missouri, March, 1912. Fd 3 Conditions in Detroit, 1915, together with a report made by Professor Olmsted to the Detroit Board of Commerce in 1905. Fd 4 Ten Years Progress on the City Plan of St. Louis, 1916-26.