“Boating on the lake has been a popular pastime from the Park’s earliest days,” states the Central Park Conservatory’s website.
Yet the Lake didn’t get a proper boathouse until 1874, when Calvert Vaux designed this one in the 1907 postcard below.
“With its charming Victorian touches, the building also featured a second-story terrace that afforded beautiful views of the Ramble,” explains the Conservatory.
“A popular draw for more than 80 years, the boathouse fell into disrepair by 1950 and was soon torn down. The iconic Loeb Boathouse that New Yorkers and visitors know so well today opened at the Lake’s northeastern tip in 1954, financed by philanthropist Carol M. Loeb.”
Tags: Calvert Vaux, Carl M. Loeb, central park, Central Park 1870s, Central Park boathouse, Central Park Conservatory, Central Park lake, Loeb Boathouse, scenes from Central Park, vintage New York postcards
Ephemeral New York 
June 23, 2011 at 5:30 pm |
So nice to see this blast from the past, The Central Park boathouse and the lake is a wonderful landmark for both the upper westside and eastside; one of our favorite things about Manhattan.