Central Park, 843 acres large, is located in the center of Manhattan. However, it wasn't always the beautiful medows and hills it is now.
In 1853, New York City bought the land for the park. The area contained sheds from colonists, quarries, pig farms and swamps.
In 1857, the city of New York organized a competition for the design of this new park. A design by Frederic Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, called 'the Greensward Plan' was chosen. This plan contained a landscape with large meadows, some lakes, and hills.
To change the swampy area into the beautiful park the designers had envisioned, several hundred thousand trees were planted, more than 3 million cubic yards of soil was moved, roads and bridges were constructed and a large reservoir was dug out. It took over 15 years before the 20,000 workers had completed beautiful park. Central Park immediately became a famous and popular place for New Yorkers, attracting millions of visitors every year.
