The History and Design of New York's Central Park

Introduction: An Iconic Urban Green Space

Very few parks in the world are as iconic and story-filled as Central Park in New York City. This paper is not merely a recitation of the park's history. It also tells the stories of the people who planned, envisioned, and constructed the site, as well as those who have used the park for notable purposes. This paper is, in many ways, an encapsulation of the people who brought Central Park to life and have kept it at the high standards it still meets today. Historical and scholarly sources are used throughout to support the key arguments made. While there are certainly architectural and landscaping marvels both in the United States and around the world, few places are as breathtaking and story-filled as New York's Central Park.

The city of New York and its significance had been recognized as far back as 1800. It was clear that its future as a major commercial hub of the northeastern United States would be extensive, owing to its "well-protected and year-round harbor" and its strategic location at the mouth of the Hudson River.¹ As the city began to expand and grow, there was an eventual turn toward the idea of a green space or park to be situated somewhere on the main island of New York. However, many twists and turns occurred before the final location and size of the park were settled upon.

Early Proposals and the Push for Park Space

The initial street plan envisioned about a dozen north-south streets, each one hundred feet wide, along with approximately 155 east-west streets. About ten percent of those would be the width of avenues while the others would be narrower. This arrangement was intentional, as neighborhoods built on right angles are easier to maintain and develop. If the original park space plan of 1811 had been approved, it would have been massive — a truly "central" park. The total acreage dedicated was roughly five hundred acres, with about 239 acres situated between Twenty-Third and Thirty-Second Streets and Third and Seventh Avenues. This plan was quickly rejected, however, because the open space was considered far too large and sacrificed too much area that could be used for commercial development or residential housing. Over the 1810s and 1820s, the city continued to expand rapidly, and people began to complain that the amount of park space was entirely insufficient and should be remediated.²

Part of the demand for parks was addressed by land donated by Samuel Ruggles, which eventually became Gramercy Park. The Stuyvesant family gave land for a square that would later be named after them. By 1838, there were approximately 170 total acres of parkland. Still, there was a strong desire for more.

This is when the two major advocates of what would become Central Park entered the scene: William Cullen Bryant and Andrew Jackson Downing. Rather than being politicians, both were figures from the arts and letters world. Bryant grew up in Massachusetts and practiced law before moving to the New York area in 1829 to work in journalism. He was also a renowned poet and became a highly influential editor of the New York Evening Post. He made his case for a park in 1844 in an editorial that called for "an extensive pleasure ground for shade and recreation," stating that there was "no finer situation for the public garden of a great city." The latter quote referred to an area known as Jones' Wood, a heavily forested tract of land along the East River.³

Downing added his own voice to the cause, writing a series of pieces that focused primarily on lamenting the striking lack of parks across the country. These letters and other writings spanned roughly a decade, from his 1841 work A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening, Adopted to North America through letters he wrote from 1848 to 1851. When initial plans for the Jones' Wood tract were put forward, early indications were encouraging. However, significant opposition soon emerged in the form of Democrats taking control of the City Council and a number of lawsuits filed by landowners opposed to the plan. Downing responded by asserting in another essay that five hundred acres was the absolute minimum New York should dedicate to its planned central park.⁴

The Central Park Act and the Greensward Plan

Everything finally came to a head when the Central Park Act was passed on July 21, 1853. This initiated the process of preparing the area, including land acquisition and related work. The passage and implementation of this law represented one of the two largest public works projects undertaken to that point, the other being the Croton Aqueduct. One person pivotal to Central Park's realization was a man named Viele, who spent his spare time conducting surveys and other preparatory work related to the park — without compensation — for quite a long time. He was deeply committed to getting the park planned and prepared, taking a considerable gamble by investing himself in the project while there was still significant infighting and disagreement about how the park would evolve.

This squabbling and uncertainty finally appeared to subside in April 1857, when the governing structure under which the park would be built was completed. Much of Viele's earlier work was ultimately rejected, but the newly appointed oversight board retained him for the work that lay ahead. Additionally, it is worth noting that a man named Calvert Vaux would have been part of the project earlier had he not died in 1852 in a steamboat accident. Vaux's critical view of Viele's plan was likely what led to its rejection, even though Viele himself was kept on the project.⁴

Despite Vaux's rejection of Viele's prior vision, Vaux still emerged as one of the two principal architects of the park. Viele, a graduate of West Point, had divided the park area into fifty-square-foot blocks during his unpaid three-year stint before taking on a chief engineer role. He also commissioned geological profiles, drainage schemes, and the overall layout of the park — including pathways and a central parade ground as the park's primary focal point. This was, in part, the plan that was later rejected.

The position of Chief Engineer was ultimately claimed by Olmsted, the final and most consequential leader of the project. There were nearly thirty-three entries in the design competition for Central Park, including a dozen from park employees such as engineers John Rink, Roswell Graves Jr., and George E. Waring. Viele also entered, resubmitting the same plan that had been previously rejected. Olmsted rose to prominence because his vision was selected by the commissioners on April 28. His proposal was significant in that it incorporated substantial contributions from Vaux, who had died roughly four years before the plan was accepted. The Olmsted–Vaux proposal became known as the Greensward plan.

The guiding idea behind the Greensward plan was that the park design was more than the sum of its parts. Some competing plans were similar in certain respects, but the Greensward plan stood apart in how adeptly it handled transportation logistics for people moving through the park. Rather than running unsightly roads across the park, the designers used four transverse roads placed up to eight feet below grade. This ensured that transportation around the park was still facilitated without compromising the park's overall aesthetic. The planned tract covered approximately 778 acres. While many of the natural curves and geographic features were preserved, significant modifications were also required, including blasting, draining, grading, and planting. Despite the de-emphasis on major through-roads, one of the park's crown jewels was a grand promenade deliberately lined with trees. This strip became known as The Mall, and its presence and grandeur persist to this day.⁵

Conclusion: A Living Legacy

The beauty of architectural and natural marvels like Central Park is that they invite so much thought and analysis, while simultaneously offering relaxation and release. Many people use the park as a place to socialize and exercise. The park also stands in striking contrast — but in the best possible way — to the urban sprawl that surrounds it. It is a gathering place for people of all social and demographic backgrounds, and that is something that can rarely be said about any single location as large and storied as Central Park.