It’s difficult to imagine Manhattan without the glorious oasis that is Central Park. But the Park’s existence was not inevitable, and its design was very much a product of its time. *Central Park: The Early Years* looks at why and how Central Park was created in the 1850s and its history during the formative decades of the 1860s and 1870s. With full-color images from the period.

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: New York Circa 1850
2.1 Early History of Manhattan
2.2 Why the City Grew
2.2.1 Transportation hub
2.2.2 Transfer point or destination for immigrants
2.2.3 Manufacturing center
2.2.4 Financial center
2.3 High Points of New York Circa 1850
2.3.1 Business and wealth
2.3.2 Literacy and the search for knowledge
2.3.3 Architecture
2.3.4 Music
2.3.5 Sculpture
2.3.6 Painting
2.4 Low Points of New York Circa 1850
2.4.1 Prejudice and slavery
2.4.2 Corruption in city government
2.4.3 Overcrowding
2.4.4 Health hazards
Chapter 3: Sidling Toward a Park
3.1 Why Build a Park?
3.1.1 Fresh air and exercise
3.1.2 Pastoral views
3.1.3 Culture
3.2 Where?
3.3 The Site before the Park
3.3.1 Homes and businesses
3.3.2 Institutions
3.3.3 Topography
Chapter 4: Players and Plans
4.1 Egbert Ludovicus Viele
4.2 Frederick Law Olmsted
4.3 Calvert Vaux
4.4 The Design Competition
4.5 The Greensward Plan
Chapter 5: Construction of Central Park
5.1 Execution of the Greensward Plan
5.2 Early Revisions to the Greensward Plan
5.2.1 The Extension, 106th-110th Streets
5.2.2 The Bow Bridge
5.2.3 The circulation system
5.3 Finances: Andrew Haswell Green
Chapter 6: Architectural Elements in Central Park
6.1 Bethesda Terrace
6.2 The Belvedere
6.3 The Dairy
6.4 The Zoo
6.5 The Sheepfold
6.6 The American Museum of Natural History
6.7 The Metropolitan Museum of Art
6.8 Wall and Gates
Chapter 7: Sculptures in Central Park
7.1 Earliest Sculptures
7.1.1 Bethesda Fountain, dedicated 1873 (Emma Stebbins)
7.1.2 Schiller, 1869 (C.L. Richter)
7.1.3 Eagles and Prey, 1863 (Christophe Fratin)
7.1.4 Tigress with Cubs, 1866 (Auguste Cain)
7.1.5 Indian Hunter, 1866 (John Quincy Adams Ward)
7.1.6 Seventh Regiment Memorial, 1869 (John Quincy Adams Ward)
7.1.7 Humboldt, 1869 (Gustaf Blaeser)
7.1.8 Morse, 1871 (Byron M. Pickett)
7.1.9 Scott, 1871 (Sir John Steell)
7.1.10 Shakespeare, 1872 (John Quincy Adams Ward)
7.1.11 The Falconer, 1875 (George Blackall Simonds)
7.2 Board of Commissioners’ Rules on Sculpture, 1873
7.3 The Halleck Fiasco, 1877
Chapter 8: The Tweed Years, 1870-1871, and Their Effects
8.1 Boss Tweed and His Cronies
8.2 Effects of Tweed’s Reign
Chapter 9: Episodes in the Guides Who Know Central Park App
Chapter 10: Further Readings
Chapter 11: References
Chapter 12: 1865 Chromolithographs of Central Park by Louis Prang