Figure 1.-- Here we see children in 1921 about to launch their yachts in a Central Park pool. This was mostly an activity for boys, but here sis seems to be taking an interest. The press caption read, "The Yachting Season Opens Early: The glorious spring days have started the kids who possess toy yachts out of doors to seek the ponds and lakes on which to sail them. This picture shows a budding Sir Thomas Lipton [famed Scottish yachtsman] and his little sister preparing to sail their boat on the lake in Central Park, New York. Before launching the craft they have engaged in an animated discussion as to her sailing abilities." The photograph was archived March 31, 1921. Note the boy's knee pants. Knickers were standard for American boys by the early-20s, but some younger boys still wore knee pants.
The most well known American urban park is of course Central Park in New York. It was the the first landscaped public park in the United States. It was a very interesting concept. Europeans parks were often beautifully tends ornamental flower gardens. Central Park was a nature park carved out of the city. As New York City grew into the major city in America, wealthy merchants and landowners, many well traveled who were impressed the public grounds of the great European cities, especalkly London and Paris, promoted the idea of an urban park in ghe city if it was also to have a prestigious international reputation. Beyond that they publicized the bnefits for all New Yorkers. Wealthy New Yorkers would have a place for splendid carriage rides in natural settiungs. Working-class families would have a healthy place for weekend outings. New Yorkers debated the issue for 3 years. Issues included the location aand the cost. The question became a state issue, largely because of the legal issues involved. New Yorkers decided they wanted the new park in the middle of Manhattan, not in a remote location. Existing houses and farms would have to be purchased and buildings torn down. Finall just before the Civil War, the New York state leguslsture authorized the City of New York to use the power of eminent domain to purchase in excess of 700 acres. It would be a rectangular shaped park dead located in the center of Manhattan (1853). Fortunately it included an irregular terrain of swamps and bluffs with rocky outcroppings which was not yet heavily overtaken by the expanding city. As a result the realestate between Fifth and Eighth avenues and 59th and 106th streets was not the most desirable for private development. As a result the city had begun to grow ariund it. Some 1,600 mostly poor residents were displaced. This included an irate Irish pig farmers as well as German gardeners living in what might be called shanties. And at Eighth Avenue and 82nd Street, Seneca Village had devloped. The was one of the city's most stable African-American settlements with three churches and a school. Buildings were torn down and earth moved to create interesting natural features. When it opened (1857), few American cities had any sizeable parks. The limits of the park were subsequently extended to 110th Street (1863) creating the modern boundaries. Central Park proved quite inflential with urban planners throughout America. The Central Park Zoo is one of the best in the country. One interesting view of Central Park in 1919 is available in HBC. Central Park was a huge urban park. It was not, however, the only park in New York City. The five boroughs had numerous parks totaling 29,000 acres of urban greenery. [Meyerowitz] Here Mayor Blooberg is encouraging the planting of a million trees. These smaller parks offer charming hideaways. And the system is still growing. The city acquired North Brother Island, a 13-acre island in the East River (2007). It is being allowed to revert to nature.
Sources
Meyerowitz, Joel. Legacy: The Preservation of Wildreness in New York City Parks (Aperture, 2009), 209p.
