A Few of Our Favorite Things

Department of Buildings, Manhattan Plans. NYC Municipal Archives.

Today’s For the Record kicks off a new series we are calling “These are a Few of Our Favorite Things.” The staff at the Department of Records has the lucky task of working directly with the historic materials held in the country’s largest archive, and every now and then they come upon a real gem. Usually, they snap a picture on their phone, maybe share with a colleague or two and then the image lingers in the cloud with all their other quick pics. “Our Favorite Things” aims to end that and share some of these little treasures with you. We hope to highlight some of our lesser-known collections and share the passion and dedication that our archivists and records professionals have as they work to preserve the history of New York City.

For our inaugural post, Cynthia Brenwall finds hidden art and messages where you might never imagine them to be.

We hope you enjoy!

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Cynthia Brenwall: Unexpected Art and Hidden Messages in the Municipal Archives

During my tenure in the Municipal Archives, I have had the opportunity to see and work with, literally, thousands of bits of New York City history—the vast majority of piqued my interest in some way or another. I have worked with everything from vital records, architectural plans and the original drawings for the creation of Central Park, to seventeenth-century Dutch records, letters sent to mayors and giant ledgers from the Alms House. 

My favorite thing is to find a hidden bit of art or a secret message. It happens more often than one would expect! 

Department of Buildings Architectural Records 

This collection contains building plans that show evidence of frequent handling over the years. On two of the plans for construction of the American Express Building at 65 Broadway, created by the architectural firm of Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker in 1916, a clever workman used their artistic talents to draw tiny hands as pointers. Are they just doodles or are they directing a plan-user to something important? 

Department of Buildings, Manhattan Plans. NYC Municipal Archives.

In another instance, I found a message on the plans for grillage work on a building located at the corner of Mercer Street and Washington Place dating from 1903. On the back of the drawing by the architect Henri Fouchaux reverse, a small message reads “There are Very cold-hearted people in the world,” indeed. 

Department of Buildings, Manhattan Plans. NYC Municipal Archives. 

Department of Parks Architectural Plans 

My first assignment at the Municipal Archives was to help conserve the Central Park plan collection. These include three of my favorite little works of art. On a plan for the ornamental iron work on the ceiling the Terrace Arcade, a small detail has been transformed into toothy-grinned smiley face, or perhaps it is the man in the moon!  

This detail of the ornamental ironwork on the ceiling of the Terrace Arcade includes the later addition of a mischievous grin from the left side of the plan. Department of Parks & Recreation collection, Central Park Plans, NYC Municipal Archives. 

On a plan for a large fountain to be located on the Mall, architect Jacob Wrey Mould went so far as to draw the rings of the tree that would be used in the wooden supports for the structure.  

Department of Parks & Recreation collection, Central Park Plans, NYC Municipal Archives. 

It was Mould again who designed the ornamental bird cages that once lined the northern part of the Mall. In this little rendering he shows the curb and base of the cages that can still be found in the park today. The note states that there is to be a “small curb to keep toes off the hedge,” to which he replies “Yes! Decidedly.” 

Department of Parks & Recreation collection, Central Park Plans, NYC Municipal Archives. 

Department of Parks & Recreation collection, Central Park Plans, NYC Municipal Archives. 

Brooklyn Street Opening Maps 

This small collection of 84 maps documents the opening of new streets in Brooklyn from the 1830s through the 1870s. They often detail property ownership, lay out parts of the street grid for the towns of Brooklyn, and occasionally include lovely bits of artistic embellishment. 

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Dr. Prennell’s “beautiful farm” in the town of New Utrecht shows a new church, a horse-drawn carriage and a steamboat for trips to New York. And finally, one of my absolute favorite things is the small pen and ink drawing of a dog on the back of a map showing the 44 lots that made up Mt. Prospect in the 8th Ward of Brooklyn.

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Happy Birthday, Calvert Vaux!

Calvert Vaux, ca. 1880. Courtesy Historic New England.

This week For the Record celebrates the 200th birthday of Calvert Vaux, one of New York City’s most influential architects. If you are familiar with Vaux (pronounced Vox) at all, it is most likely as the co-designer of Central Park. Along with Fredrick Law Olmsted, Vaux created the pastoral designs, architectural highlights and thoughtful details that made the park unique and New York City’s greatest treasure. Despite his brilliant designs, it is more likely that you only know about Olmsted and not Vaux, whose importance has been lost to history.  

Vaux’s biographer, Francis Kowsky begins his book, Country, Park & City: The Architecture and Life of Calvert Vaux, by stating that Vaux “fervently advocated the power of art to refine and elevate the human spirit. An accomplished architect and landscape architect, he believed that well-planned, picturesque buildings and naturalistically laid-out parks and grounds enhanced the lives of all who used them.”  

Jefferson Market Courthouse, February 12, 1938. Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. Designed by Vaux and Frederick Clark Withers in 1887, this landmarked building now serves as a branch of the New York Public Library. Done in the Victorian Gothic style, the building included civil and police courtrooms. The brick-arched basement was used as a holding area for prisoners on their way to jail or trial.

Born in London on December 20, 1824, Calvert Vaux trained as an architect. He became a skilled draftsman and accomplished artist. In 1850, he emigrated to Newburgh, New York, to work with Andrew Jackson Downing, one of America’s foremost landscape gardeners (the 19th-century term for a landscape architect) and one of the very early proponents, along with William Cullen Bryant, of reserving a space in New York City for a world-class park. Through connections he made during his time in Newburgh and as a way to honor Downing, who died in a riverboat accident in 1852, Vaux encouraged city officials to call for a competition to design the park—a competition which he and Olmsted eventually won. The Central Park: Original Designs for New York’s Greatest Treasure tells the complete story of the competition, Vaux’s architectural features, and hidden highlights in the park.

Huddlestone Arch, plan showing the southern elevation and a schematic sketch of the north side, 1864. Parks Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. Vaux designed all 34 Central Park bridges to be unique in order to “prevent monotony from dulling the pleasing effects that the landscape was to have on the spectator’s imagination.”  

Rustic Bridge built across the arm of the Ladies Skating Pond near Bridge No. 4, c. 1860. Pencil with black ink on cloth-backed paper. Parks Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

There has been considerable scholarship about Central Park and other New York City parks designed by Olmsted and Vaux such as the Prospect, Riverside and Tompkins Square parks. What is less well-known is that Vaux had a fruitful career outside of his partnership with Olmsted, which ended in 1872. Vaux worked with fellow Central Park architect Jacob Wrey Mould on projects such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Natural History. With Fredrick Clarke Withers and engineer George K. Radford he carried out plans for public buildings with the Romantic vision of intertwining nature and structure into one. For his many solo commissions, he designed charming buildings, laid out lush parks and cemeteries and developed elegant structures for urban living, not only for the wealthy but for lower and middle classes as well.  

American Museum of Natural History, floor tiles of principal and third floors, artificial stone and tile contract, c. 1873. Parks Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

American Museum of Natural History, side elevation of the central arm, 1872. Parks Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

New Building Application, Elevation, 1888. Manhattan Building Plan Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. The Fourteenth Ward Industrial School, also known as the Astor Memorial School was one of twelve Children’s Aid Society Buildings designed by Calvert Vaux and George Kent Radford. In partnership from 1876 until 1893, they developed buildings for the CAS that were intended to give a feeling of a “snug country inn.” The buildings usually displayed varied rooflines and included ornamental features that are reminiscent of Dutch architecture.

As a founding member of the American Institute of Architects, Vaux helped establish professional standards in the field that are still recognized today. In 1857, his book Villas and Cottages was published as a portfolio of his designs for homes. Here, Vaux explained how, together with modern comfort, it was important to establish a pleasing relationship between a dwelling and its surroundings. In addition, he often wrote for leading journals about American architecture and its influence on society. He was a champion for tenement house reform through the development of modern apartment buildings which he billed as “Parisian Buildings” to make them more socially acceptable across the classes.  

In his park designs, he brought to fruition Downing’s notion that well-designed public spaces could be a source of moral and educational enlightenment for all. Vaux felt that beautiful music venues, educational museums and comfortable restaurants could be included without intruding on natural surroundings.

The construction of Central Park marked the beginning of the public park movement in America. In his role as head designer Vaux implemented the pastoral vision that he and Olmsted created at the heart of the city. Nature first, nature second, and nature third. Then architecture. That was Calvert Vaux’s motto to live and work by.  

Ceiling design for the Terrace Arcade, 1860. Parks Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. The Minton Company in England produced the tiles. The brilliantly detailed Terrace is virtually hidden from the rest of the Park, revealing itself only when the visitor is upon it.

Bethesda Terrace and Mall, details of wall and parapet at south stair, ca. 1861. Parks Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Thirty years after he created the original plan for Central Park, Vaux found himself at the end of his career. With a declining architectural practice of his own, in 1887 he again returned to designing landscape plans for parks throughout the city. Working under Parks superintendent Samuel Parsons, Jr., the son of his longtime plantsman in Central Park, Vaux planned small squares and corner parks as well as larger undertakings like designing a new glass greenhouse that was installed in the northern section of the park near the Harlem Meer.

Old Mulberry Bend Park Pavilion, December 12, 1936. WPA Federal Writers’ Project Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. Now known as Columbus Park, Vaux designed the Pavilion near the end of his career when he was once again working for the Parks Department. The structure features arches similar to those used in some of Vaux’s early bridge designs for Central Park. 

In 1889, Vaux and Olmsted returned to their partnership to design one last park together, Downing Park in Newburgh, New York. The two longtime partners agreed to donate their services to design a public park along the Hudson River in the memory of Andrew Jackson Downing. Sadly, Vaux did not live to see the park completed in 1897. He died in a drowning accident near his son’s home in Brooklyn in 1895. To his simple funeral, the Park Department commissioners sent plants taken from the park. Vaux’s son Bowyer explained “The idea of all the flowers and vines and leaves in profusion coming from Central Park seemed most appropriate.”

Death Certificate, Calvert Vaux, Brooklyn, 1895. NYC Municipal Archives.

Death Certificate, Calvert Vaux, page 2, Brooklyn, 1895. NYC Municipal Archives.

Drives, Rides, and Walks—Horses in Central Park

Central Park Riding Club dinner invitation, 1926. Office of the Mayor, Jimmy Walker, NYC Municipal Archives.

For more than one hundred fifty years visitors to New York’s Central Park have enjoyed picturesque vistas, rolling meadows, peaceful lakes, and a variety of charming architectural features.

Until recently, these pastoral scenes would have also included horseback riders cantering along the bridle paths. But after closure of the Claremont Riding Stables, located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, in 2007, the horseback riders have largely vanished. Today—except for the southernmost area of the park where horse-drawn carriages still ply the roadway—horses are almost completely absent from the landscape.      

A recent For the Record blog, Horsepower: The City and the Horse introduced the topic of the horse and its profound influence on virtually all aspects of city life. This week’s article looks at how the horse informed many of the design elements of Central Park.

Central Park, shelter for carriages and horses, preliminary study, front elevation, 1871. Jacob Wrey Mould, Architect. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

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Drives, Rides, and Walks 

One of the most innovative features of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux’ design for the park was their traffic circulation system that separated walkers, horseback riders, and horse-drawn carriages, creating intimate landscapes for each type of traveler.   

The Drives were wide and sweeping, avoiding sharp turns to allow passengers in horse-drawn carriages to focus on the landscape. Park gardener Ignatz Pilat described the careful planning that went into their landscaping:       

Central Park, Bridle Road Looking South, ca. 1913. Albert W. Schaad, photographer. NYC Municipal Archives collection. Schaad was a Central Park Zookeeper who created a scrapbook of his photos.

“The effect already produced and to be perfected in the course of time, throughout the length of the ‘Ride,’ is that of a pleasant country-road shaded by over-arching trees, mingled with shrubs and vines, spaces being left for more or less expanding views of open lawns, sheets of water, and other objects of interest which give the idea of extent and diversity; but wherever these open spaces would destroy the harmony of the landscape, a few scattered trees or low shrubs are so arranged as not to obstruct the view.”

The Rides, or bridle trails, generally hugged the perimeter of the park. For pedestrians, the Walks meandered through valleys, providing glimpses of the elegant carriage traffic nearby. All routes were surfaced and drained for safe passage in all types of weather. Where arteries met, the over- and underpasses of bridges were used as much as possible to separate carriage and horse traffic from pedestrians.     

Central Park, Entrances and Gates, Entrance at 90th Street and Fifth Avenue, plan of entrance and section of adjoining wall, 1865. William H. Grant, engineer. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Another prescient feature of Olmsted and Vaux’ design for the park, also conceived to accommodate the horse, specifically horse-drawn vehicles, were the transverse roads. The original design competition specified that each submission must include at least “four or more crossing from east to west be made between Fifty-ninth and One Hundred and Sixth Street.” Olmsted and Vaux’ ingenious scheme was to sink the roads below grade. This made it possible to keep park visitors safely above the crosstown traffic, colorfully portrayed in their proposal as “coal carts and butchers’ carts, dust carts, dung carts” and “fire companies rushing their machines with fantastic zeal at every alarm.”    

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Winterdale Arch (Bridge No. 17)  

Winterdale Arch, located along the West Drive near Eighty-Second Street, is named for its location on the Winter Drive, between Seventy-Second Street and 102nd Street. When planning the west side of the park, Olmsted and Vaux intended for this section to be planted with a variety of evergreens, to add color throughout the winter for carriage- and sleigh-riders. 

Central Park, Bridge number 17 [Winterdale Arch], elevation of bridge and railing, 1861. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

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Stables and Workshops 

After years of maintaining offices at Mount St. Vincent and the Arsenal, in 1869 the Central Park Board of Commissioners decided to construct “offices of Park administration” at a location that would be more easily accessible from all points in the park. The site proposed was at the northern edge of the old Yorkville Receiving Reservoir, on a sliver of land at a curve in Transverse Road No. 3, now called the Eighty-Sixth Street Transverse. The new offices would have included “engineering, architectural, and gardening apartments,” a stable with storage sheds for vehicles and machinery, and a separate building to house blacksmiths, carpenters, and other craftspeople.      

Central Park, Offices of Administration, North Wing - East End, Details of Stable Building, Keeper’s Dwelling, etc. south front and west side elevations and longitudinal sections, 1869. Attributed to Jacob Wrey Mould, Architect. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Central Park, Offices of Administration, North Wing - East End, Details of Stable Building, Keeper’s Dwelling, etc. [detail], 1869. Jacob Wrey Mould, Architect. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Central Park, Offices of Administration, General Ground Plan of East End of North Wing, showing stable, sheds, yard and keeper's dwelling [detail], 1869. Attributed to Jacob Wrey Mould, Architect. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

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Mount St. Vincent/McGown’s Pass Tavern

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, a favorite stop for park visitors was the Mount St. Vincent Hotel. Built in 1881, it proved to be immediately popular with affluent New Yorkers, as the New York Times reported in 1886: “No matter how fast the team nor how elegant the equipage a turn ‘on the road’ is not done in proper shape unless it includes a bite or a sip in the Mount St. Vincent.  

The Hotel was located in the quiet and rustic northeastern corner of the park, a landscape filled with steep bluffs and rough terrain. The old Boston Post Road—the original mail-delivery route from New York City to Boston—meandered between two rocky ridges in this area, and in the 1750s John Dyckman built a tavern to serve travelers in the vicinity of 105th Street and Fifth Avenue. Not long after, the McGown family purchased the land and tavern, running it successfully through the Revolutionary War. Hence the name of the small valley: McGown’s Pass.      

Central Park, Mount Saint Vincent, design for a refreshment house, front elevation and side elevations, 1883. Julius F. Munckwitz, Architect. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The McGowns held the property until 1845, when they deeded the land and buildings to the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who renamed the area Mount St. Vincent’s. Within a few years, the nuns had established a convent and school. To the existing structures, they added a two-story residence for the chaplain and a stately brick convent house that contained a beautiful chapel and large dining rooms. In 1856, before the nuns had consecrated their new chapel, they received word that the city would be taking their land for the creation of the new park.

Central Park carriage ride card, n.d. Mayor James Walker collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Central Park carriage ride card, n.d. Office of the Mayor, Jimmy Walker, NYC Municipal Archives.

Now owned by the city, the buildings became the park headquarters, and at one point the families of both Olmsted and Vaux lived at the site. With the outbreak of the Civil War, the US government took over the complex for use as a hospital for wounded soldiers who were, curiously enough, tended by the same Sisters of Charity who had previously owned the buildings!

Once it became known as a playground for drinking and dancing for the city’s elite, the Sisters of Charity asked that their name no longer be associated with the establishment. Renamed for the family most associated with the site, McGown’s Pass Tavern remained in operation until 1915, when its contents were put up for auction and the building torn down.   

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Drinking Fountains for Horses 

Overlooking the Lake and just west of Bethesda Terrace is the peaceful area known as Cherry Hill, named for its spring-blooming cherry trees. The paved concourse on the crest of the hill was originally intended as a scenic turnaround for horse-drawn carriages, in the center of which was a stunning fountain for watering horses. Designed by Jacob Wrey Mould in 1867, it was constructed of polished granite, wrought iron and bronze, and decorative Minton tiles, with eight colorful porcelain saucers for birds to drink from.    

Central Park, Drinking fountain for horses, southwest concourse, details of bronze finial and lamp, elevation, 1871. Jacob Wrey Mould, Architect. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Central Park, Drinking fountain for horses, southwest circle, details of bronze arm and porcelain saucer, 1871. Jacob Wrey Mould, Architect. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: Drinking fountain to be erected in Central Park, elevation, 1885. Jacob Wrey Mould, Architect. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

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The illustrations in this article, and more than 250 others, such as the original winning competition entry submitted by Olmsted and Vaux, meticulously detailed plans and elevations of many of the architectural features of the park, as well as intricate engineering drawings are included in “The Central Park: Original Designs for New York’s Greatest Treasure.” It is available at bookstores throughout the city and through on-line retailers.  

Mount St. Vincent, Central Park

New York City’s parks are open for all to enjoy year-round but the number of visitors skyrockets in the summer season. Those interested in exploring park histories are invited to research Municipal Archives’ collections for information and inspiration. Of these, the most significant is the Parks Drawings Collection which documents sixty parks, parkways, and playgrounds in Manhattan including more than 1,500 drawings of Central Park.

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View at Mount St. Vincent, ca. 1863. Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

For the Record has highlighted Central Park drawings in several blogs including Skating in Central Park, The Belvedere Castle in Central Park and Central Park, a Musical Destination for all New Yorkers. This week’s article looks at the area of the park that has the richest history of use and settlement—the quiet and rustic northeastern corner. It is adapted from our book, “The Central Park: Original Designs for New York’s Greatest Treasure.”

Plan of Buildings at Mount St. Vincent, 1856. Parks Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Established in 1673, the old Boston Post Road—the original mail-delivery route from New York City to Boston—meandered between two rocky ridges in this area just west of what is now 105th Street and Fifth Avenue. It was here, in the mid-1750s that John Dyckman built a tavern to serve travelers on the road. Not long after, Andrew McGown purchased the land and tavern, running it successfully through the Revolutionary War giving the area its name at the time: McGown’s Pass.

McGown’s Pass Tavern, Central Park, ca. 1905. Photo Courtesy New York Public Library.

The McGown family ran a prosperous business until 1845, when they deeded the land and buildings to the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. The nuns renamed the area Mount St. Vincent’s and within a few years, they established a convent and school. They added a two-story residence for the chaplain to the existing structures, as well as a stately brick convent house that contained a beautiful chapel and large dining rooms. The land also included a small Jewish cemetery. In 1856, before the nuns had consecrated their new chapel, they received word that the city would be acquiring their land for the creation of the new park.

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Chapel and buildings at Mount St. Vincent, ca. 1865.

The nuns relocated to The Bronx, and their buildings became the early park headquarters. At one point the families of both Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux lived in the premises while the two men had offices in the main building. With the outbreak of the Civil War, the US government took over the complex for use as a hospital for wounded soldiers who were, curiously enough, tended by the same Sisters of Charity who had previously owned the buildings.

Mount St. Vincent Art Museum, 1863. Parks Commission Annual Report, NYC Municipal Library.

After the war, the main building returned to its original use when it was leased as a restaurant, while the chapel was transformed into a museum until it burned down in 1881. Two years later, the Mount St. Vincent Hotel, based on designs by Julius Munckwitz, was built on the site. The new building proved to be immediately popular with wealthy New Yorkers, as the New York Times reported in 1886: “No matter how fast the team nor how elegant the equipage a turn ‘on the road’ is not done in proper shape unless it includes a bite or a sip in the Mount St. Vincent.”

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Mount St. Vincent, Central Park, Design for a Refreshment House, 1883. Julius Munckwitz, Architect. Parks Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

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Mount St. Vincent, Central Park, Design for a Refreshment House, 1883. Julius Munckwitz, Architect. Parks Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Now that it was a playground for drinking and dancing for the city’s elite, the Sisters of Charity asked that their name no longer be associated with the establishment. Renamed for the family most associated with the site, McGown’s Pass Tavern remained a popular destination through the turn of the century, but as automobiles replaces horse and carriages the business took a downturn. In 1915, Parks Commissioner Cabot Ward felt that the location would be better suited for a police station. Owner Max Boehm was ordered to vacate the premises and its contents were put up for auction. While the police station was never relocated to area, in 1917 the building was torn down. In more recent history, the location of the former convent, tavern and swanky hotel is now the home of the Central Park composting operations. Throughout the year, fallen leaves and branches are brought here and turned into nutrient-rich compost, which is used for plantings and horticultural projects throughout the Park.

Take a few minutes to view some of the exquisite drawings of Central Park in the gallery.

The Greensward

On April 22, and 23, 2022, the Department of Records and Information Services will commemorate the 200th birthday of Central Park architect Frederick Law Olmsted with a pop-up exhibition featuring the original Greensward plan. Submitted by Olmsted and co-designer Calvert Vaux, the master plan won the Central Park design competition in 1858.

Rarely seen in public, the Greensward plan is considered a masterpiece of 19th-century landscape architecture. The story of its creation begins in 1852 when the city’s Board of Aldermen formed a Special Committee on Parks. The Committee proposed to build “The Central Park” in the rectangle bounded by Fifth Avenue, Eighth Avenue, Fifty-Ninth Street, and 106th Street.  

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Map from Greensward Presentation board no. 2., 1858. Department of Parks and Recreation Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives

The two-mile-long by half-mile-wide 778-acre plot, with its rocky outcrops of Manhattan schist rising above stagnant bogs, and home to nearly 1,600 people, was a challenging site for a park. On June 21, 1853, the State Legislature authorized the mayor to issue stock, known as the Central Park Fund, to compensate the 561 owners of the more than seven thousand lots that comprised the future park.  

Delays arising from purchasing the property and political wrangling over a plan for the park delayed further action until October 1857, when a new state-appointed Board of Commissioners announced a formal design competition. All planners were instructed to incorporate specific requirements into their presentations: at least four transverse roads, a parade ground for military drills, a two-to-three-acre formal flower garden, three playgrounds for “healthful exercise,” a site for concerts and exhibitions, a prominent fountain, an observation tower, and a winter skating area, as well as “at least one institution of cultural uplift or practical knowledge.” The budget was $1.5 million. The March 1, 1858 deadline for submissions was moved back a month when the requirements were expanded to include specifications and costs for building roads and preparing the land.  

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Greensward Presentation board no. 5., (view of the Lake from Vista Rock),1858. Department of Parks and Recreation Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Well-connected English-born architect, Calvert Vaux, and the Connecticut-born writer, surveyor, clerk, and farmer, Frederick Law Olmsted were casual acquaintances but shared a belief that nature had the power to uplift and refine the human spirit. Vaux suggested they collaborate on a design. The new partners worked nights and weekends through the fall and winter of 1857-58. Vaux’ son, Downing, remembered that the drawings needed “a great deal of grass to be put in by the usual small dots and dashes, and it became the friendly thing for callers to help in the work by joining in and adding some grass to Central Park.”

Preparations continued to the last possible moment. Arriving at the Arsenal Building late in the evening of March 31, 1858, Olmsted and Vaux had to wake a caretaker to deliver their proposal, only minutes before the deadline for entries. Logged in under the name “Greensward” as Entry #33, it was brilliant in presentation and bold in design. Their large-scale master plan was executed on high-quality paper mounted on linen; their two texts,  the Description of a Plan for the Improvement of the Central Park “Greensward” and Particulars of Construction and Estimate, were professionally printed by William Cullen Bryant & Co.; and their twelve presentation boards featured a mix of graphite drawings, albumen prints and oil sketches related to particular views, some accompanied by a lithograph of a map to show its location.

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Presentation board no. 4, detail, (view across the Lake toward Vista Rock). The “present outlines” view, attributed to the studio of photographer Matthew Brady, shows fields bordered by a stone wall, with Vista Rock rising in the background to a lookout tower. Department of Parks and Recreation Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

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Presentation board no. 4, detail, (view across the Lake toward Vista Rock). The “effect proposed” view, painted by Vaux’s brother-in-law (Hudson River School artist Jervis McEntee), shows the fields have been replaced by the Lake, rising to a landscaped hill topped by an early version of Belvedere Castle. Department of Parks and Recreation Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

With monetary prizes being awarded to the top four entrants, the commissioners were hopeful that proposals would arrive from leading European experts in park design, but they received only two foreign entries and those were of little distinction. The entries were arranged for viewing in rented offices at 637 Broadway, along with summaries of the written components of the submissions. On April 28, 1858, the commissioners made their selections. The grand prize of $2,000 went to Vaux and Olmsted.  

Olmsted and Vaux believed in creating “scenery” that appeared to be natural, and that the park “should present an aspect of spaciousness and tranquility, with variety and intricacy of arrangement, thereby affording the most agreeable contrast to the confinement, bustle, and monotonous street-division of the city.”

They named their plan “Greensward,” a word that means ground covered with green grass. Visitors today can easily observe how the designers reserved large areas of the park for pastoral scenery with open greenswards bordered by shrubberies and groves of trees, often with nearby open water to reflect foliage and give a feeling of depth to the landscape.  

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Presentation board no. 9, detail. The “effect proposed” shows Bogardus Hill (now known as the Great Hill) with a Monumental Tower. Department of Parks and Recreation Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Greensward plan has long been recognized as a work of genius. The Olmsted and Vaux traffic circulation system separating walkers, horseback riders, and carriages, and the sunken transverse roads, are often considered their most innovative concepts. The plan is also notable for its inclusion of lakes and ponds. The successful installation of these features proved their mastery of landscape design on a grand scale.

The Greensward plan accepted by the board was seen through to completion, with one significant change. As the design competition played out, a consensus developed among the commissioners to extend the park to 110th Street. The additional area, filled with steep rock formations, spring-fed swampland, and thick vegetation, seemed a natural part of the park, and the cost of grading the rocky terrain to incorporate it into the city street grid would have been exorbitant. In April 1859, the board requested that the state legislature approve the purchase of the additional sixty-five acres, along with a budget to provide for construction. It took until 1863 to settle the eminent domain disputes over the property valuations.

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Presentation board no. 2, detail, (view toward ball field and Umpire Rock). The “effect proposed” shows a pavilion for visiting spectators (never built) sits on Umpire Rock, while ballplayers take the field in the foreground. Department of Parks and Recreation Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Department of Parks displayed the Greensward plan in the Arsenal, their headquarters in Central Park, for many years. In 2015, the original plan was transferred to the Municipal Archives and a high-quality replica took its place in the Arsenal.   

Read the full story of the Olmsted and Vaux collaboration and creation of the Greensward plan in The Central Park, Original Drawings for New York’s Greatest Treasure, by Cynthia Brenwall, and plan a visit to the Municipal Archives on April 22 or 23 to examine this extraordinary artifact.

Open for public viewing, free timed tickets are required to ensure safety. Tickets are available for 30-minute visits on the following dates: April 22, 2022 - 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and April 23, 2022 - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Use this link to sign up for your free tickets:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebrate-olmsted-bicentennial-the-greensward-plan-for-the-central-park-tickets-288125680667?aff=ebdsoporgprofile