Set between the barren lots along 8th Avenue (now Central Park West) and 5th Avenue, this was once the rockiest, least hospitable land on the island of Manhattan. Which explains, of course, how it became a park to begin with.

Originally there was not going to be a park. The city street plan, laid down in 1811, called for 12 avenues running the length of the island, intersected by 155 streets. But by the 1840's, the city had become extremely congested, and development was proceeding northward at a dizzying pace. Manhattanites began to feel the need for a park before the entire island became completely paved over.

Birdseye View of Central Park - John Bachman - 1859

One suggested site lay along the East River between 66th and 75th Streets in an area called Jones' Woods. But opponents claimed that it was unfair to develop a park that would overly benefit one side of the island. Instead of a “one-sided park,” as they called it, the city should build a “Central Park” for easy access for all.

In 1857, the city commissioners solicited designs for the park from any and all alike, and selected the Greensward Plan submitted by Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux. This lithograph is a rendition of it. You'll recognize many of the landmarks - the rectangular, tree-lined Mall in the center with the Bethesda Fountain at its end; the reservoir in the North; the Pond in the South; the transverses running across the park; the Arsenal along 5th Avenue; and many others.

One notable difference on this map is the existence of the rectangular Yorkville reservoir on the site of what is now the Great Lawn. It built as part of the original Croton Aqueduct system in the 1840's and served as a holding reservoir until 1890. In the 1930's, it was taken down and converted into the Great Lawn.