Before Central Park became a model for city parks worldwide, the land was the site of farms, businesses, churches, wars, and burial grounds – and home to many different kinds of New Yorkers.
Sara Cedar Miller is the historian emerita of the Central Park Conservancy and author of Before Central Park. In her book, Miller chronicles two and half centuries of history, she tells the stories of a secret Revolutionary War meeting of George Washington and his generals, the Dutch taverns in Harlem, the personalities of Seneca Village, the unique Bloomingdale Black community of landowners, and the farm of James Amory now the Mall, Bethesda Terrace, and Sheep Meadow and more. Miller reveals how the discovery of long-buried documents lead her to determine the system behind the monetary awards to the landowners so Central Park could be created.
In this virtual presentation she talks about some of the topics covered in her book. If you wish to purchase the book yourself, click the link below and part of your purchase will help support the Central Park Conservancy.