Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/115

 are provided with a promenade of formal avenues, to which, generally at dusk, custom brings the ladies in open carriages and the gentlemen on foot or on horseback. &mdash;

[[File:AmCyc Park - Map of Central Park.jpg|thumb|350px|Map of Central Park.

A, the Mall; B, Belvedere; C, Terrace; D, Green; E Ball Ground; F, East Green; G, site for Art Museum; H, Ramble; I, I, I, Reservoirs of City Water Works; K, K, the Meadows; L, Harlem Heights; M, Mount St. Vincent; N, N, Subways for street traffic; O, temporary Museum and Offices; P, temporary Museum, Refectory, and Offices.]]

Until some years after the middle of the present century no city in North America had begun to make provision for a park. To a certain extent cemeteries were made to serve the purpose. In 1849 Mr. A. J. Downing began in the &ldquo;Horticulturist&rdquo; a series of papers which were widely copied and did much to create a demand on this subject. At length a large tract of land was provided in New York, upon which in 1858 the preparation of the present Central park was begun. The topography of the ground was in all important respects the reverse of that which would have been chosen with an intelligent understanding of the desiderata of a park. The difficulties presented could only have been tolerably overcome by an enormous outlay. The popularity of the parts of the park first prepared, however, was so great that the necessary means for improvements on a large scale were readily granted. The magnitude of the operations (nearly 4,000 men being at one time employed on the works), the