William Crooks Pauley (1893-1985) was born in Lafayette, Indiana, and earned a master's degree in Landscape Architecture from Massachusetts State College in 1918. He served in the United States Army from 1918 to 1919 before moving to Atlanta, Georgia in 1919. He married Frances Emma Freeborn in 1930. He worked for E. Burton Cooke, Landscape Architect, C.A. Dahl Company, and Lakewood Nurseries of Atlanta, before opening his own practice in 1923 in downtown Atlanta. Pauley was the first landscape architect to hold a permanent practice in Atlanta and received the first license to practice landscape architecture in Georgia. Starting largely with residential projects, his work expanded to include schools, colleges, cemeteries, and parks, along with commercial projects. Pauley held many professional memberships including the Georgia Engineering Society, Atlanta Beautiful Commission, the State Examining Board of Landscape Architects, and was a member and fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects.