--- title: Central Park: Photos of the Jewel of Manhattan in 1961 description: LIFE.com celebrates Frederick Law Olmsted's and Calvert Vaux's best-loved creation: New York City's Central Park. canonical: https://time.com/3880289/central-park-photos-of-the-jewel-of-manhattan-in-1961/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-30T18:02:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:39.939Z og:title: Central Park: Photos of the Jewel of Manhattan in 1961 og:description: LIFE.com celebrates Frederick Law Olmsted's and Calvert Vaux's best-loved creation: New York City's Central Park. og:url: https://time.com/3880289/central-park-photos-of-the-jewel-of-manhattan-in-1961/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9a368899a532b8d/698849e3524fc017aadf1f61/01_00859636.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Central Park 1961 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Central Park: Photos of the Jewel of Manhattan in 1961 twitter:description: LIFE.com celebrates Frederick Law Olmsted's and Calvert Vaux's best-loved creation: New York City's Central Park. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9a368899a532b8d/698849e3524fc017aadf1f61/01_00859636.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jewel of Manhattan: LIFE in Central Park, 1961 > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Jun 30, 2014 6:02 PM UTC  Dancers in Central Park, 1961. Dancers in Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Jun 30, 2014 6:02 PM UTC New York’s [Central Park](http://www.centralparknyc.org/) has been around, in various incarnations, for more than 150 years. 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](http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/huddlestone-arch.html), performance spaces, a castle on a hill, a quite charming zoo and, arguably, [the world’s greatest museum](http://www.metmuseum.org/). Here, LIFE.com celebrates [Frederick Law Olmsted’s and Calvert Vaux’s best-loved and most-frequented creation](http://www.emeraldnecklace.org/central-park-olmsted-vauxs-first-park/) with a series of photos from 1961. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Dancers in Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Unicyclist in Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Warming up before a soccer match, Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene in Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A painter finds a secluded spot, Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Central Park's Bethesda Fountain, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Rowers on the Lake in Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Fishing in Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sunbathers cool their feet, Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene near the Boat House, Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Model sailboats in Conservatory Pond, Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "Nelson's flagship Victory gets a tender launching by its builder, Arthur Langton." Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Dogs in a fountain, Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Chess players, Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Water fountain, Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "In a wonderland for climbers a bronze Alice is cluttered with children who have scrambled over Mad Hatter and other Lewis Carroll creatures." Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "A trio of newly graduated students strolls soberly past a trio of figures dancing ring-around-a-rosy at a fountain." Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "The park's carriage trade, out for a morning ride, moves in conversational formation along a broad pavement." Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene in Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Elephants in Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Seals in Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Kodiak bears, Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Couple on a bench, Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A young woman is helped down from a horse-drawn carriage, Central Park, 1961. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene in Central Park, 1961. 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