Horace Peaslee

Horace Whittier Peaslee, Jr. (November 9, 1884 – May 18, 1959) was an American architect and landscape designer who primarily practiced in Washington, D.C. Born in New York, he attended Cooper Union and the Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning before moving to the nation's capital to work for the United States Office of Public Buildings and Grounds. During a tour of gardens in several European countries, he drew inspiration that was incorporated into Meridian Hill Park, an urban park in Washington, D.C., that is Peaslee's best known work. During World War I, he served as a captain in the United States Army Corps of Engineers and designed some of the temporary buildings of the National Mall.

Peaslee opened his own architectural practice in the late 1910s and designed residential, religious, educational, and public properties during his career. Most of his designs were examples of Colonial Revival architecture. Many of the buildings and parks he designed or renovated are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Examples include St. John's Episcopal Church, the Eisenhower National Historic Site, the Townsend House, and Dumbarton House. In addition to buildings and parks, Peaslee designed the Zero Milestone and bases for the Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial) and Edmund Burke statue.

He was active in professional and social organizations, which included the Committee of 100 on the Federal City and National Capital Planning Commission, both of which he co-founded. He served as president of the American Institute of Architects's local chapter and later as its national vice president. Peaslee was instrumental in preserving Great Falls on the Potomac River in the 1920s and the National Capitol Columns that were removed from the United States Capitol in the 1950s. At the time of his death, Peaslee was serving as a consulting architect for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.