Includes bibliographical references (pages 113-116) and index.
Introduction: A "natural" retreat in the heart of Manhattan -- "Give us a park" -- Central Park it is -- The Greensward Plan -- Clearing, draining, and dredging -- Filling, blasting, and planting -- Central Park's unique architecture -- A work in progress : Central Park since 1877 -- Chronology and timeline -- Glossary.
0
New York City's Central Park is the most visited urban park in the United States, with more than 25 million visitors each year. Designed in 1857 by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, Central Park was intended to provide New Yorkers with a serene and scenic "rural" refuge from the noise and bustle of city life. Yet transforming the rocky, swampy park site into rolling meadows, lush woodlands, and pristine lakes proved an extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive endeavor. Thousands of workers drained marshes, blasted away boulders, and planted a quarter of a billion trees, flowers, and shrubs to create this 843-acre oasis in the heart of Manhattan. Central Park changed the lifestyle of the city and has served as a model for urban parks across the country.
Central Park (New York, N.Y.), History, Juvenile literature.