The Children’s District

When Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux designed Central Park in 1858, they designated the area south of 65th Street as the Children’s District and placed features close together that they believed would appeal to youngsters, including the carousel, rustic shelters, and the Dairy, where toys could be rented and milk purchased so children could move easily from one attraction to another. Built in 1870, the Dairy offered fresh milk for city children and a place to enjoy cool breezes from the Pond. Atop the Kinderberg, or children’s mountain in German, the Chess and Checkers House has indoor and outdoor game tables, with playing pieces borrowed at the Dairy information desk. Wollman Rink, originally constructed in 1950 on the northeastern arm of the Pond, offers ice skating and refreshments from fall into spring. The carousel, built by Stein and Goldstein in 1908, has fifty-eight hand-carved horses and is one of the United States’ largest carousels. The Central Park Zoo was entirely rebuilt with realistic habitats displaying animals from temperate, tropical, and polar regions. Heckscher Ballfield stands on the site of one of three playgrounds in the original 1858 design for Central Park and now contains six softball diamonds. The Cop Cot, meaning little house on the crest of a hill in Scottish dialect, was rebuilt in 1985 following historic drawings for the summerhouse on that site and is one of many rustic shelters that once crowned rocky promontories in the park. Sheep Meadow includes fifteen acres of lawn reserved for picnicking and sunbathing.

New York, New York · United States