Author Archives: admin

Some time back, we recounted here the testimony of Mr. Patrick H. McCann before the Fassett investigating committee in 1890. McCann told how his lease on the Mount St. Vincent Hotel (later renamed McGown’s Pass Tavern) was not being renewed … Continue reading →

Like most late-19th Century improvements to Central Park, the new greenhouses had their foes. Almost as soon as they were announced, captious critics denounced them and called upon civic-minded burghers to firebomb them; or at least, to plot their destruction. … Continue reading →

A watercolor from the summer of 1814, right after the British shelled Stonington, Connecticut, and the New Yorkers suddenly realized an invasion might come via Long Island Sound. This rough watercolor drawing shows how fortifications might be set up along … Continue reading →

From Clarence Cook’s Description of the Central Park, a limited-edition book published in 1869. Engraving by the painter Albert Fitch Bellows. A very rare depiction of the region soon after the Meer was built. “…the visitor observes with pleasure that … Continue reading →

Yet another fantasia on McGowan’s Pass, as conjured up at the time of Central Park’s opening. As usual, we are supposed to be looking at a pastoral scene of about 1814-1816. By 1858 Fort Fish (top of the photo) was … Continue reading →

Off in the desert developments of Murrieta, in California’s Riverside County, there is a posh McMansion enclave called Central Park. And at the northernmost reaches of this development, beyond such roads as Turtle Pond Lane and Boat House Drive, and at … Continue reading →