Central Park

In the mid 1800s, New York had over 500,000 people cramped in its city. Eight-hundred and forty-three acres of land were bought in 1853 for five million dollars; it was swamp land that was soon to become Central Park. It was far away from civilization back then, and it was to be a haven and be a place for New Yorkers to relax. No one knew just how great it would be.

A competition for a design of the park was brought up and sponsored by the Board of Commissioners in 1857, and only 33 entries were submitted. The Greensward plan drawn by Frederick Law Olmsted was chosen to be the winner. Olmsted and Vaux were considered to be the founders of the profession of landscape architecture in America, so they took on the challenge of turning the swamp into a Park.

It was not an easy task, as tons of topsoil had to be brought in from New Jersey, and huge boulders had to be blasted with gun powder, it was the only way to remove them. Its immediate success launched the Urban Parks movement of the 19th century. In the 1920s neglect posed a great threat to the park. There was very little effort made to keep up with the shrubs and all the dead trees. It was such a vast area and a lot of work to be done by a few workers. It had to be restored, and again it was neglected. Since 1980 The Central Park Conservancy, made up of a group of citizens, took over its care, even to today.