Written By: Ben Cosgrove
New York’s Central Park has been around, in various incarnations, since the mid-1800s. In that time it has been hailed as a masterpiece of landscape design; served as a punchline in jokes about muggings and violent crime; provided the setting for key scenes in books, plays and movies; and remains, for New Yorkers and for countless visitors to Gotham, one of the world’s urban wonders 840 acres of tree-lined paths, public plazas, open fields, gardens, ponds, lakes, bridges, arches, performance spaces, a castle on a hill, a quite charming zoo and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Here, LIFE.com celebrates Frederick Law Olmsted’s and Calvert Vaux’s best-loved and most-frequented creation with a series of photos from 1961.
Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.
Dancers in Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Unicyclist in Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Warming up before a soccer match, Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Central Park 1961
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A painter in a secluded spot, Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Central Park’s Bethesda Fountain, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Rowers on the Lake in Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Fishing in Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Sunbathers cooling their feet, Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scene near the Boat House, Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Model sailboats in Conservatory Pond, Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A memorable boat launching.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Dogs in a fountain, Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Chess players, Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Water fountain, Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
In a wonderland for climbers a bronze Alice got cluttered by children who’d scrambled over the Mad Hatter and other Lewis Carroll creatures.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Newly graduated students strolling past folks dancing ring-around-a-rosy.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Out for a morning ride.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Central Park 1961
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Elephants in Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Seals in Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Kodiak bears, Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Couple on a bench, Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Coming down from a horse-drawn carriage, Central Park, 1961.
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Central Park 1961
Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
