Central Park Lake - 19th Century

Original title: Central Park, The Lake. Hand-colored engraving published by Currier & Ives, copyright 1862. The Bow Bridge is on the right. It was completed in 1862, the same year this engraving was copyrighted. Source: New York Public Library.

Print shows people riding in carriages, on horseback, and strolling along paths at the lake in New York's Central Park, in the background. At the time, the park was still under construction. The Park was envisioned in the 1840s and the acquisition by the city of the title to lands for Central Park began in 1847 and continued through 1852. It was officially opened in 1876. Central Park is the largest park in Manhattan constructed in the mid-19th century.