Central Park United States

Legendary

Enjoy the beauty and activities happening at the most visited urban park in the United States.

Photo by Pierre Blaché

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Before Central Park existed, a community called Seneca Village stood on part of that land. It was home to about 1,600 people, many of them Black families who owned property there, one of the few places in New York City where Black New Yorkers could vote at the time.

In 1855, the city forced the residents of Seneca Village to leave so construction on the park could begin. It's a part of the park's history that's often left out of the story.

New York City held a contest in 1857 to find the best design for the new park. Out of 33 entries, the winning plan came from Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.

Their design was called the Greensward Plan. It aimed to create a peaceful, natural-looking landscape in the middle of the busy city, even though almost every part of it was carefully planned and built by hand.

Thousands of workers spent years building the park. They moved huge amounts of soil and rock, planted hundreds of thousands of trees and shrubs, and built paths, bridges, and lakes from scratch.

Parts of the park opened to the public as early as 1858, even while construction continued elsewhere. The full park was finally completed in 1876.

Today, Central Park covers 843 acres in the middle of Manhattan, one of the most visited urban parks in the entire world.

Walk or bike along the park's winding paths, past lakes, bridges, and open meadows. Visit Bethesda Terrace, one of the park's most famous spots, with its grand fountain and carved stone details. Stop by the Central Park Zoo, or rent a rowboat on the lake for a classic New York afternoon.