Central Park and Frederick Law Olmsted

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/2842147226/ photo originally uploaded by Wallyg
I read recently about Central Park, and am sorry to say that I have not seen it in person. I am certain that this is the kind of park that I would rave about if I visited it, like parks I've enjoyed in Paris and in Istanbul.

Central Park seems like it is America's Park.
In 1800 there were only 60,000 people living in New York City, and immigration drove the numbers up to 400,000 by 1844, when it became America's largest city.
Central Park was designed in 1856 by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, and was the first landscaped park in the United States. Their genius was to plan it as "a single work of art", with 843 acres transformed into a pageant of open meadows, bubbling brooks, waterfalls, walkways, lakes and forest paths. The park has many fine bronze statues, Belvedere Castle, and is home to music events and many other public activities.
All these years later I want to thank the men who planned Central Park. The Park keeps changing and yet holding firm to be a place where people can encounter a touch of nature.