CENTRAL PARK HISTORY
The history of Central Park traces back to midst of 19th century. At the beginning of 19th century, there were 60,000 people living in New York City, mostly congregated in lower Manhattan.
A wave of immigration that began in the 1830’s caused the population to grow more than 300,000 in the1840’s to swell over 500,000 by 1850. By mid-century, however, most New Yorkers still lived below 38th Street in crowded, chaotic quarters.
The volume of street noise from carriage wheels alone challenged the sanity, much less serenity of these early residents. The need for an open green space was unavoidable for those who wanted to escape from the din of city life. The city decided to build Central Park at this stage.
Central Park is the first landscaped public park in America. The construction of the park started in 1858. It lasted 15 years with a $14 million cost. This amount is around $200 Million in today’s dollars.
Central Park is completely manmade. No machinery was used at all. The area was mostly swampy. Workers moved nearly five million cubic yards of stone, earth and topsoil.
The total area of Central Park is 843 acres which is %6 of Manhattan’s total acreage.
Central Park closes at 1:00 am and opens at 6:00 am every day of the year.
The Park Drive is 6,5 miles and there are 58 miles of pedestrian paths.
There are 6000 benches. If you want to adopt one, the price ranges from $7500 to $25000.
There are approximately 26000 trees. Adopting a tree costs between $1000 and $100000.
