History
On July 21, 1853, the New York State Legislature approved a bill designating a piece of land in the middle of Manhattan for a great public park: the nation's first major public park.
The park was designed in 1858 by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux; who envisioned it as a place where people of all social and ethnic backgrounds could mingle. Out of the treeless, rocky terrain and stagnant swampland, they created a wooded urban oasis that has been enjoyed by generations over a period of 150 years.
Portions of the park's southern and northern ends opened to the public in 1861 while the rest of the park's hills, paths and ponds were under construction for 16 years. Ten million cartloads of soil replaced a landscape of swamps and bedrock, while an underground drainage system was installed to create ponds and lakes.
In recent years, Central Park has undergone a renaissance. By the 1970s it had become forsaken and dilapidated; its trees and gardens untended, its landscapes reduced to barren ground, its picturesque bridges and buildings covered with graffiti, its statues defaced and its benches broken.
The Central Park Conservancy was founded in 1980 with the mission to restore, manage, and preserve the park. The Conservancy developed and implemented a major management and restoration plan that has set new standards of excellence in park care.
Today, Central Park has more than 26,000 trees, 58 miles of scenic pathways, and nearly 9,000 benches on 843 acres. Each year, 25 million people from New York, across the country, and around the world visit the Park.
The park extends between 59th St and 110th St and Central Park West and 5th Ave. Click on the map on the right for more details on the park's beauty.
Click on the map to see details on Central Park's points of interest.
W 110
W 97
W 85
W 74
W 59
Central Park North
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Central Park South
E 110
E 97
E 85
E 74
E 59
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