Secrets of Central Park

​Part III: Near the Great Lawn and Reservoir

By Laurie Lewis

​In the past two issues of this newsletter, we explored hidden gems in the southern and middle sections of Central Park. We continue our treasure hunt of the Park, heading north. The Great Lawn and Reservoir are the dominant features in the area we’ll cover in this issue, but we’ll begin with something a little to the west, which for the most part no longer exists.

​Looking south from the Reservoir. It is in the foreground, followed by the Great Lawn (with baseball areas). The city surrounds Central Park. Photo from FEMA.

​From 1825 to 1857, a thriving community called Seneca Village was on the western edge of what would become Central Park, between 82nd and 89th Streets. Most of the residents were Black, and many of them were landowners. The existence of Seneca Village is no secret; publicity about archeologic digs and plentiful signage in the Park have brought attention to its history. Although the residents and their buildings disappeared when the city took over the property to create Central Park, several geographic features remain. One is Summit Rock, the highest natural point in Central Park, between 81st and 85th Streets. Another remnant is Tanner’s Spring, a natural source of fresh water for Seneca Village. Today, it looks more like a large puddle or tiny pool.

Tanner's Spring, in a tree-hidden area of the Park at 82nd Street west of West Drive. ​

​We’ll head toward the Great Lawn now, passing under Winterdale Arch. Here is an excellent place to see another secret hidden in plain sight. When Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux designed the Park in the mid-nineteenth century, they created separate pathways for the main modes of local transportation. Pedestrians took one path (on the right in the photo below), horseback riders took another one (beside it in the photo), and carriages used yet another road (in this case, the bridge above the paths). Wasn’t it nice of the Park designers to create walking paths so ladies wouldn’t muddy their long skirts going where horses and carriages had been?

​Winterdale Arch, created to separate pathways for pedestrians, horseback riders (to the left of the pedestrian path), and carriages (above the arch).

Transverse roads are another way Olmsted and Vaux separated traffic. They sunk four transverse roads below the Park to connect the east and west sides, enabling visitors to enjoy the Park without having to stop for traffic. Except in the winter, foliage tends to hide the sunken roads from view. The paths above them flow seamlessly into the surroundings, and parkgoers seldom realize that they are on an arch above a transverse road. I often marvel that these arches were built high enough to accommodate modern city buses.

Left, the transverse road at 67th Street, looking west. Photo by Jim Henderson.
Right, the transverse road at 86th Street, looking east, with a bus heading west under the arch.

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Do you ever feel lost in the Park? Just look for a lamppost. They have markers, usually silver but sometimes painted black, either horizontal or vertical, with four numbers. The first two numbers indicate the cross street. If the last number is even, you’re on the east side; if it’s odd, you’re on the west side.

Two styles of location tags on lampposts: vertical and horizontal. Where is the lamppost with the horizontal tag?

​Ah, finally we’re going to talk about the Great Lawn! Today it is a green expanse where New Yorkers play ball, relax, and enjoy concerts. None of these activities would have been possible before creation of the Park, for water filled the area. But not the swampy water found in other places in what would become Central Park.

In colonial days and the early nineteenth century, New York City had plenty of clean water. But as the city grew, the natural water supply gradually disappeared, especially in the built-up southern end of Manhattan, and the water that was left became polluted. In 1842, a gravity-based system started bringing fresh water from north of the city. The water collected initially in a rectangular reservoir in the area now occupied by the Great Lawn and then was piped underground to another reservoir on 42nd Street where the New York Public Library is now; from there, it was piped to homes and businesses. The uptown reservoir quickly proved inadequate to meet the city’s needs, and a larger one was built just to the north. That is the Reservoir in the Park today. The 86th Street transverse road separates the two areas.

The two Central Park reservoirs. The original rectangular reservoir predated the Park. The larger curved one is the present Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. The Great Lawn has replaced the original reservoir.

Standing at the edge of the Reservoir on the west side, you can see the skyline of the Upper East Side. The reverse is also true. The Reservoir is perhaps the only place in Manhattan with a view of water in the foreground and a sizeable part of the skyline in the background. Another secret: Because of the Reservoir's curved shape, the skyline appears to shift as you walk around it. For example, a building that was at the right in your field of vision might be in the center when viewed from another vantage point.

Looking east over the Reservoir.

​The relatively soft walkway surrounding the Reservoir is the bridle path. These days, the bridle paths in the Park rarely have horseback riders. The last public stables in close proximity, Claremont Riding Academy on West 89th Street, closed in 2007. However, you can find relics of horseback days: mounting blocks along the bridle path at West 90th and West 91st Streets.

Mounting block at West 90th Street to help equestrians get on their horses.

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Just north of the Reservoir on the west side are tennis courts—thirty of them, the largest group of public tennis courts in the city. Tennis has been played in this location since the 1880s, and women as well as men enjoyed the sport.

Central Park tennis courts around 1904.

North of the tennis courts, you might notice a street with traffic below. That’s the 96th Street transverse road, the furthest north of the transverses.

In the final installment of this series, we’ll look at secrets in the northernmost area of Central Park. It’s the least visited and most fascinating section of the Park. In the meantime, I’ll be glad to take you on a tour of Central Park. To book a tour, email [email protected].

​Except for historic pictures, photos are by the author unless otherwise specified.
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​New York City Firsts: Big Apple Innovations That Changed the Nation and the World by Laurie Lewis tells about more than 300 New York originals. Read about the birth of the safety pin, the Oreo, the rock musical, Central Park, and hundreds of other New York creations. 
Find out more about the book, including links to buy it, at www.nycfirsts.com.

Tours
We are no longer scheduling public tours that are open to anyone, but we are available for private tours. If you would like ideas for private tours, please see the TOURS section of this  website. Central Park is a favorite year-round. Email [email protected] to discuss a custom tour of its history and some of its best-kept secrets.