How a swamp became an oasis

1855 - Using eminent domain, New York City acquires 843 acres of underdeveloped swamp for the obscene sum of  $5 million, displacing 1,600 people living there.

1857 - Frederick Law Olmsted becomes superintendent of a park that does not yet exist. He spends days clearing dirt and evicting squatters and evenings working with architect friend Calvert Vaux on what will become the Greensward plan. The plan is winning entry in the city's competition to develop a design for the park.
The Panic of 1857 creates widespread unemployment. Thousands of workers begin the task of moving five million cubic yards of dirt and planting more than five million trees, plants, and shrubs. Beleaguered by bureaucrats, Olmsted and Vaux unsuccessfully submit their resignations several times.

1873 - The Greensward plan is completed. It has been the basic blueprint for central Park ever since.