The Curious Case of the Lighting of the Williamsburg Bridge

Every now and then, while processing a collection, an archivist stumbles into a mystery that just needs to be solved. This is exactly what happened recently to our team cataloguing the Manhattan Building Plans collection at the Municipal Archives. 

The current portion of the ongoing grant-funded project is focused on Lower East Side buildings. An interesting set of 18 plans for Block 318, Lot 10, dating from 1905, depict two city-owned structures along the shore of the East River, under the Williamsburg Bridge anchorage, between Tompkins Street and South Delancey Slip. Both buildings had the same designer, Henry De Berkeley Parsons, but each had a different use and were created for two separate City agencies. In one portion of the plans, the Department of Bridges proposed an electric lighting station for the Williamsburg Bridge, while the other half of the plans were for a Department of Street Cleaning rubbish incinerator.

Façade and exterior view of Incinerator Plant – Designed by Henry De Berkeley Parsons, the incinerator plant included exterior ramps for the rubbish carts and a 250 foot smokestack. Dept. of Buildings Plans, NYC Municipal Archives.

The label included on the architectural drawing that was the start of our mystery. Dept. of Buildings Plans, NYC Municipal Archives.

Archivists processing the architectural plans have many resources to help to identify buildings, confirm locations and unravel the story of a city that is constantly growing, shifting and changing. These include commercially-published Sanborn and Bromley Fire Insurance atlases, Topographic and Property Maps, the Department of Buildings Building Information Search (BIS) website and the Department of Finance Property Information Portal. These resources provided scant information about the two buildings, except to confirm that both were standing in 1911, and by 1921 one of the buildings had been demolished.

Sanborn map c. 1906 showing the Department of Street Cleaning’s incinerator building, the Department of Bridges lighting plant and one of the Department of Education’s temporary school buildings. NYC Municipal Archives.

The next logical stop was a Google search. This led to our first real clue, a January 26, 1905 New York Times story titled, “City Lighting Plant Plans are Approved.” The article stated, “Mayor McClellan announced that within four months he will turn the switch to set in operation the first municipal electric lighting plant in New York City. The plant, which will be experimental, will be located under the Williamsburg Bridge, and will be used to light the bridge itself and the temporary school buildings in the vicinity.” This was a good start, but it also added many more questions to be answered. What was an experimental lighting plant? And were there really schools built directly under the Williamsburg Bridge?

A quick search through the Municipal Archives digital gallery answered the temporary school question. Images taken by Department of Bridges staff photographer Eugene De Salignac and lantern slides in the Board of Education collection show several schools on Delancey Street beneath the overpass with children playing in the street. In total, there were eight small school buildings under the bridge to accommodate the ever-growing population of the Lower East Side.

Williamsburg Bridge showing old school house Delancey Street and Mayin Goerick Street, March 27, 1916. Eugene de Salignac, Dept of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection.

Williamsburg Bridge showing old school Delancey Street Willell and Shuff Street, March 27, 1916. Eugene de Salignac, Dept of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection.

PS 98 (e), Manhattan: exterior. Temporary building under the Williamsburg Bridge, May 22, 1906. Board of Education Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

PS 98 (c), Manhattan: exterior. Temporary School #5 under the Williamsburg Bridge, May 22, 1906. Board of Education Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

PS 98 (d), Manhattan: exterior. Temporary building under the Williamsburg Bridge, May 22, 1906. Board of Education Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Having established that there were indeed schools and a lighting plant constructed under the bridge, it was time to find out the real story. City department annual reports in the Municipal Library provide a treasure trove of insightful information. The Department of Street Cleaning Report for Four Years Ending December 31, 1905, provided the missing information.   

The Department of Street Cleaning, precursor to the Department of Sanitation, had many functions designed to maintain sanitary conditions in the City. Street Cleaning men swept streets, cleared snow, collected and separated rubbish, hauled vast quantities of ash and even removed dead animals from the streets. For many years they loaded rubbish onto scows along the waterfront and dumped the contents into the sea. The resulting pollution fouled waters up and down the eastern coastline. 

Williamsburg Bridge Lighting Plant. Annual Report of the Department of Street Cleaning, 1905. NYC Municipal Library. The Department of Bridges Lighting Plant is on the right, while the Department of Bridges Incinerator with its’ ramp and smokestack are on the left.

Department of Street Cleaning workers at the furnaces in the incinerator plant. Annual Report of the Department of Street Cleaning, 1905. NYC Municipal Library.

In 1895, newly-hired Street Cleaning Commissioner Colonel George E. Waring brought the department into the modern age. Almost immediately, Waring banned large-scale ocean dumping and instituted a recycling system. Ashes were taken to landfills, while animal wastes were rendered for fertilizer. Rubbish including rags, paper, and other recyclable goods were further separated into items that could be sold for profit. By 1902, whatever couldn’t be recycled was burned in several new municipal incinerators. The 47th Street incinerator had a small electrical plant capable of creating enough electricity to light the Department’s stables as well as docks and piers in the neighborhood.  

Sorting – The incinerator plant was fitted with with a large sorting ramp where workers separated garbage from materials that could be sold for a profit. Annual Report of the Department of Street Cleaning, 1905. NYC Municipal Library.

Williamsburg Bridge from roof of Grand Street long focus, June 19, 1911. Eugene de Salignac, Dept of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. The smokestack visible in front of the bridge was built to bring the smoke above and away from the bridge.

Finally, by 1905, enough trials had been carried out, and it was time to prove the concept of creating enough electrical power by burning garbage on a large scale. This brings us to our original architectural plans. The two buildings were elegantly rendered with simple facades. The Department of Street Cleaning building incinerator plans included details such as the ramps used to bring rubbish into the building as well as the 40-foot sorting machine that was used to separate recyclable materials from the garbage that would be burned. The plans also show that one side of the building would be adjacent to the Delancy Slip for easy extraction of rubbish coming in via scows on the East River. A 250-foot smokestack standing nearly 75 feet above the Williamsburg Bridge would carry smoke away from bridge traffic. The Department of Bridges building was fitted with access to two boilers that were connected to electrical generating equipment on the first floor and a storage battery on the second.  

Plan for smokestack, Williamsburg Bridge Incinerator. Dept. of Buildings Plans, NYC Municipal Archives.

On November 31, 1905, a New York Times headline read, “The Mayor Starts New City Light Plant – The New Bridge All Aglow” after Mayor McClellan pulled down a copper switch to illuminate the 2793 foot span with electricity made by burning the City’s garbage. (In truth, the bridge was not fully illuminated until January 1906.)  

The Engineering Record, from November 11, 1905, stated “The first attempt on a large scale in this country to utilize the electricity made available by burning rubbish has begun.” It was hoped that the $90,000 plant would not only pay for itself but would also save the city $12,000 per year in annual lighting costs. While initial reports claimed that the experiment was a success, it would be short lived. 

The first hint that something was amiss was the absence of information about the experimental plan in the Department of Bridges reports. The only notation came in a single line in the 1906 Annual Report about the use of the land under the bridge: “the greater portion of the land between East and Tompkins Streets has been given over to the use of the Street Cleaning Department, for a rubbish incinerator, and to the construction of an electric light plant for the bridge.” In addition, the 1906 Street Cleaning report did not mention the project, although they had dedicated nearly 30 pages to the experiment the previous year. 

Answers came in a letter to the Mayor from the Street Cleaning Commissioner Macdonough Craven, dated January 23, 1907. Craven spelled out the problems of the project. It seems that when devising his plan, Henry De Berkeley Parsons had not accounted for the difference in electrical usage during the long spring and summer days, versus the darker winter and fall period. The Street Cleaning department discovered it needed to burn more than 1,100 tons of coal to compensate, which appeared to have been an unexpected cost. After one year of operation, the department experienced a net loss of $19,621.  

Letter to Mayor McClellan from Street Cleaning Commissioner Macdonough Craven, dated January 23, 1907. Craven wrote to explain the disappointing results from the experiment of lighting the bridge by burnings the City’s rubbish. Mayors Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

On the other hand, Craven reported that the Department of Bridges had a net gain of $19,617 for the same period compared to what they would have to pay for the Edison Electric Light Company to supply the power. Craven proposed a solution to the mayor - “All the forgoing has led me to the following conclusion: that because of the large benefit on the part of the Department of Bridges, the entire plant be turned over to them, this Department merely furnishing the paper and rubbish, the heat from which they can use to augment that produced by coal.” 

The final news of the demise of the lighting experiment came in two short 1907 reports. In the first, the Department of Street Cleaning stated that incineration should only be used as a method of disposing of rubbish and not as a power source for the city. In the second the Department of Bridges stated that “the Bridge Lighting Sation opened on November 30, 1905, by Mayor McClellan. Light and power for the bridge was furnished until April 30, 1907, when the station was shut down, current being obtained from the Edison Company.” 

And with that, our facinating mystery of lighting the Williamsburg Bridge was solved.

Fay Kellogg, Architect

“For the Record” introduced the  Manhattan Building Plans Project in 2018, and provided an update in April 2020, In the Details. This important work is continuing. With funding from the New York State Library Conservation and Preservation Program, two more staff have joined the project. To date, the team has completed processing almost 40,000 plans.

Surrogate’s Court, 31 Chambers Street, central atrium and staircase, 2018. Photographer: Matt Minor. NYC Municipal Archives.

Recently, they inventoried an 1897 alteration plan submitted to the Department of Buildings by architect A. F. Leicht for a hotel located at 270 South Street. According to the application, a “Mrs. Emma Meyer” owned the building; notable because a woman-owned business property at that time was very unusual.

This led to wondering about a related topic, women architects. Reviewing the inventory of the processed plans revealed exactly one building with a woman, Marie Frommer, listed as the primary architect on a 1946 building alteration plan. One goal of the processing project is to provide multiple ways to research the collection: location, date, and architect’s name. The inventory also includes the landmark status of the building, quantity and condition of the plans, as well as remarks, e.g. exceptional façade elevation, or, “woman-owned.”  

Continuing the search for woman architects led to an excellent resource, Architects in Practice: New York City, 1900-1940, compiled by James Ward for the Committee for the Preservation of Architectural Records in 1989. The preface to the volume included a list of architects with “feminine” names. It’s a short list. Of the more than 5,000 names in the directory, Ward identified a total of twenty women. 

Would the Archives collection provide information about any of the women architects on this list? The answer is yes, and the journey led unexpectedly close to home, and the fascinating story of Fay Kellogg.

Since 1984, the Municipal Archives has been headquartered in the Surrogate’s Court building at 31 Chambers Street. Designed by John Rochester Thomas in 1899, the Beaux-Arts-influenced structure has long been celebrated as one of the most beautiful public buildings in the city.  

First floor rotunda, detail, Hall of Records, 31 Chambers Street, architect John R. Thomas, 1897. NYC Municipal Archives.

What is less well-known is that Thomas’ staff included a young woman architect named Fay Kellogg who is credited with the design for the grand staircase that is one of the highlights of the central atrium.

Piecing together the history of a person often requires many sources. In the case of Kellogg, it is fortunate that she was written about during her career. Those contemporaneous reports supplement the archival records needed to tell her story. Born in 1871 in Milton, Pennsylvania, Kellogg attended Columbian University, now known as George Washington University, in Washington D.C. to pursue a career in medicine. In a 1907 article in the New York Times entitled, “Woman Invades Field of Modern Architecture: Remarkable success of Miss Kellogg in profession exclusively followed by men scores triumph for her sex” Kellogg explained that her father had concluded that the study of medicine was long and difficult and urged her to give it up. Instead he offered to pay for her to study architectural drawing and mathematics with a German tutor followed by a year of study at the Pratt Institute.

After her initial training, Brooklyn architect Rudolph L. Daus hired Kellogg in 1892 to help design the 13th Regiment Armory and the Monastery of the Precious Blood. She also spent a year with the firm of Carrere & Hastings before heading to Paris. While working at the atelier of Marcel de Monclos she applied for admittance to the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Had she been successful, she would have been the first woman at the Ecole. And it was through her petitions to the French government that the Ecole began accepting women students in 1898.   

295 MacDonough Street, Brooklyn, 1940. Tax Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

After Paris, Kellogg returned to Brooklyn. According to census records, she resided with her family at 295 MacDonough Street. The 1910 federal census records her occupation as ‘artist,’ but the 1915 King County census (available in the Municipal Archives) more accurately lists her profession as ‘architect.’

A 1915 story in Pearson's Magazine, “Two Women Who Do Things,” by Kate V. St. Maur, described how Kellogg joined the architectural firm of John R. Thomas, designer of 31 Chambers Street, and stated “… the great staircase in that building was designed by her.” The 1907 Times story related how Thomas had also approved her plan for a sculptural program made up of four early Dutch governors placed in niches that would “represent them looking out on the Greater City, with its skyscrapers, subways and other features of its wonderful growth.” Sadly, Thomas died before construction began and the work was turned over to the Tammany Hall architects Horgan & Slattery who scrapped her plans for the sculptures.

After Thomas’ death in 1901, Kellogg went into business for herself, with an office at the newly-built 30 Union Square. She started off quickly with a commission to renovate and construct seven buildings for the American News Company in Manhattan on Park Place. They soon placed her in charge of all their work in New York City.

Throughout her career, Kellogg designed hundreds of buildings, cottages, suburban railway stations, and helped to design the Woman’s Memorial Hospital (now the Interfaith Medical Center) in Brooklyn. During World War I, Kellogg was one of three female architects, including Julia Morgan and Katherine Budd, who were contracted to design “hostess houses” for military camps in the South.

“Woman’s Place Is, if You Insist, in the Home; but Who’s Going to Fuss About It If She Wants to Earn $10,000 Or So, a Year, Somewhere Else?” Illustrated article, New York Herald, December 17, 1916.

In addition to her work, Kellogg strongly supported women’s suffrage and the fight for the equal rights of women in the workplace. In 1909, she was included in a delegation of “self-supporting” or professional women, the only architect included in the group, invited to sit on the stage at Carnagie Hall to hear British Suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst. She often spoke eloquently about the role of women in architecture. For example, in a 1911 interview with The Cincinnati Enquirer, Kellogg was asked if there were any specific fields suitable for women in architecture, to which she replied, “I don’t think a woman architect ought to be satisfied with small pieces, but launch out into business buildings. That is where money and name are made. I don’t approve of a well-equipped woman creeping along; let her leap ahead as men do. All she needs is courage.”

In 1907, Kellogg purchased property in Greenlawn, Town of Huntington, Long Island. She built a home there, as well as the town post office. On April 21, 2021, Town of Huntington officials unveiled a historical marker honoring Kellogg, describing her as “…the foremost woman architect of the early twentieth century.”

Fay Kellogg, death certificate, no. 14819 of 1918, Brooklyn. NYC Municipal Archives.

Kellogg became ill in Atlanta, Georgia in the spring of 1918 while supervising the construction of hostess houses at Camp Gordon. She died in July 1918 at her home in Brooklyn, aged 47. According to her death certificate (on file at the Municipal Archives), the cause of death was asthenia from a sarcoma of the spine, and not the flu epidemic, as has been more recently reported  The certificate also recorded her occupation:  architect.

Kellogg was not always credited for her work. It is not clear how many other women worked in architectural firms without being acknowledged. By presenting this information, it is hoped that Kellogg’s contribution to the glorious 31 Chambers building will be recognized.  

The Transcription Project, Early Mayors' Collection II

Recent blogs have described the work archivists have accomplished transcribing collection inventories, lists, finding guides and other descriptive materials into searchable databases and spreadsheets.  The transcription projects began when the Municipal Archives closed to the public on March 16, 2020, and all staff began to work remotely from home.  This week is the second installment describing the Early Mayors’ collection transcription project. 

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Correspondence from the American Society for the Protection of Animals appears frequently in the collection; not surprising given the vast number of horses in the city and the potential for mis-treatment. The ASPCA’s interest was not restricted to the equine population. Letter from John P. Haines, President of the ASPCA to Mayor Thomas F. Gilroy, June 9, 1893. Early Mayors’ Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The Early Mayors’ collection includes correspondence and documents from New York City mayoral administrations from 1826 through 1897 and totals 157.5 cubic feet.  The collection had originally been assembled by Rebecca Rankin during her 32-year tenure as the Director of the Municipal Library between 1920 and 1952.  This was a core collection in the Municipal Archives when it opened in 1952 and remains one of the most important series documenting nineteenth-century government and policies.

The Early Mayors’ collection also includes typewritten summary descriptions of every document in the series prepared by archivists and librarians in the1950s and 60s. Mr. Idilio Gracia-Pena, Municipal Archives Director (1976-1989), and DORIS Commissioner (1990-1995), recently confirmed that these typewritten summaries had been produced under the direction of James Katsorhis.  He had worked as an assistant to Rebecca Rankin and took over as head of the Archives when Rankin retired in 1952.

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New Yorker Jonathan Lawrence wrote to Mayor Wickham about the importance of having street signs at each corner. Lawrence notes that the Common Council had been petitioned on this subject every year, but had not acted. May 8, 1893. Mayor William Wickham. Early Mayor’s Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Conservator Cynthia Brenwall has been part of the team transcribing the Early Mayors’ collection typed inventories. In describing the work, she observed “…  average New Yorkers wrote to the mayor and city officials a LOT! They made complaints, asked for help, inquired about unusual topics and sent congratulations every day.  Apparently, New York was dirty! The amount of complaints about ashes and garbage, dead animals in the streets, stables located in basements and smells coming from the “offal docks” is astonishing.”

Brenwall also noted “…for the most part, women were irrelevant in public life at the time...at least as seen through these documents.  With the exception of a few public charities, searches for lost children and the ladies of houses of ill repute, women are very rarely mentioned in these letters.” 

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Nora Casey, an emigrant who arrived in this country in June, had been diagnosed as “insane” and confined to the Emigrant Asylum, Ward's Island. On September 1, 1888, Ellie Casey informed the authorities that her mother would not be able to accompany her sister home to [County] Cahirciveen, Ireland. Other documents indicate that the mother and sister lived in Massachusetts and asked for her to be moved to live with them. But the Board reviewing whether immigrants might be a “public charge” were bound to send her back to Ireland, where there was nobody to take care of her. Mayor Abram Hewitt. Early Mayors’ Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Similar to archivist colleague Amy Stecher’s description of work on the Early Mayors collection transcription project, Brenwall also remarked on the staggering amount of corruption in the city. “From policemen taking bribes for not reporting gambling and prostitution houses in the 1880s to men stealing luggage from newly arrived immigrants at Castle Clinton. to election fraud and a whole scheme of illegal electrical wires run through the city...it seems like everyone was out to make a buck.”

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Police Captains were required to reported on the condition of “panel” houses in their respective precincts. “Panel Houses” were houses of prostitution that were constructed with hollowed out walls where thieves could hide and wait for a chance to rob men patronizing the establishments. “Panel House” thieves relied on the reluctance of their victims to press charges and face publicity. Many of these houses were under the protection of the police. Police Captains report, April 1874. Mayor William Havemeyer. Early Mayors’ Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

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Licensing places of public assembly was among the New York Police Department responsibilities during the 19th century. Carnegie Hall received a good report from the NYPD, April 21, 1892. Mayor Thomas Gilroy. Early Mayor’s Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

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In 1890 a substantial portion of City residents were immigrants and City officials believed that its population was undercounted by federal census-takers. The Harlem Democratic Club, along with many other New Yorkers urged a re-count. Mayor Hugh Grant directed that the New York Police Department conduct another count. The result was the 1890 “Police” census which quantified the City’s contention that the numbers in the federal count were significantly lower. Harlem Democratic Club, September 1890. Mayor Hugh Grant. Early Mayors’ Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

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Mayor Grant’s efforts to persuade federal officials to accept the revised numbers were unsuccessful. The November 6, 1890, letter and eight-page attachment from the Department of the Interior to Mayor Grant made that clear. Early Mayors’ Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Ms. Brenwall concluded that the more thing change, the more they stay the same.  I was repeatedly struck by how many issues of the time are very similar to issues of today. Cholera and yellow fever outbreaks that caused quarantines, police force issues, citywide celebrations marked important occasions and give all residents a respite from daily life and the recognition that as New Yorkers we must take care of each other for the city to be successful.”

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Railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt complained to Mayor Edward Cooper that the conductor of a street car on which he was a passenger “willfully” obstructed another car on Christopher Street and should be reprimanded. July 5, 1879. Mayor Edward Cooper. Early Mayors’ Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Brenwall added that her work over the last several months has been “…an amazing deep-dive into Victorian-era New York! Creating a searchable document is going to such a great resource for researchers and history buffs alike once we completed this project.” 

We look forward to making available the results of this telework project undertaken by the Municipal Archives.

Skating in Central Park

The sport of ice skating in Victorian-era New York was so popular that all submissions to the 1857 design competition for Central Park were required to include a winter skating area. As one of the few socially acceptable activities that could be enjoyed in mixed company (along with tennis and bicycling), the Department of Parks’ Board of Commissioners recognized that a public skating rink would be a great source of healthful recreation for city dwellers. Called the Skating Pond on Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted’s winning Greensward plan, the Lake was one of the first areas of the park to be open to the public for the 1858-59 skating season, well before construction of many other park areas had started.

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Detail of Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted’s 1857 Greensward plan submission drawing showing the skating pond. Black ink with colored pencil on paper. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

In the early days of the park, ice skating on the Lake drew huge crowds—some thirty thousand people daily. Beginning in 1868, a three-story chalet-style “skate tent,” as it was called, was put up and taken down at the south end of the lake during the winter season. The 1870 report of the Board of Commissioners described the tent amenity: on the first floor it had concessions, changing areas, a place to warm up, a refreshment stand, and a cloak room. The second story provided windows for spectators to view the skating while enjoying a beverage, and the third level served as a “ladies look-out exclusively.” 

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Design for a Skate House. Julius Munckwitz, architect, 1884. Ink and watercolor on paper. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

To replace the original “skating tent,” actually a wooden structure, after it had fallen into disrepair, architect Julius Munckwitz prepared this drawing for a new Skate House in 1884, which provided a detailed elevation view and a floor plan with restaurants for men and women as well as a parlor and smoking room.

In addition to the main skating area, Vaux and Olmsted also provided a more secluded space reserved for women who preferred to skate away from the mixed-gender, social atmosphere on the Lake. Located on a small inlet just beyond Balcony Bridge, the Ladies Skating Pond provided a “ladies only” option for the more modest skaters of the day. As construction in the park continued, other bodies of water such as the Conservatory Water and the Pond also became popular skating venues.

In an effort to make the man-made Lake safe throughout the year, it was equipped with waste weirs (to lower water levels) and sluice gates (to raise water levels). During summer, sluice gates kept the water level at seven feet deep to accommodate boaters. In winter, the waste weirs lowered the level to just four feet to lessen the possibility of an accidental drowning if a skater fell through too-thin ice and each night, a series of eighteen hydrants, or valves, spread water to create a fresh sheet of ice.

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Design of the sluice gate for the outlet of the Skating Pond, c. 1858. Black and red ink with pencil, blue crayon, and colored washes on paper. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

With large crowds arriving daily, Olmsted instituted many park rules for wintertime users of the Lake. He stipulated, for example, that visitors should “not drop any tobacco, segar-stumps, paper, nutshells, or other articles on the ice” and that, “a ball will be hoisted to the top of the pole, near the bell tower whenever the ice is in full condition for skating.” However, Olmsted did relax one rule during the ice-skating season—park closing time—extending it from eight o’clock to midnight. Harper’s Monthy Magazine in 1861 described the nighttime spectacle: “The dramatic aspect of the jubilee [of skating] is greatly increased by the sparkle of the moonbeams and the glare of the Drummond lights, which flood the scene with startling brilliance.”

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Summer and winter water levels at the site of the Rustic Bridge crossing an arm of the Ladies Skating Pond, c. 1860. Black and colored inks with pencil on paper. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The levels of the water of the Lake ranged from seven feet deep in the summer to provide ample room for boaters and swimmers to only four feet in the winter as a safety measure should anyone fall through the ice.

While the popularity of ice skating waned in the later part of the century, it never completely fell out of fashion and remained a wintertime draw for the park, albeit one contingent on the fickle nature of New York weather. In 1949, philanthropist Kate Wollman donated $600,000 toward construction of a new kind of "artificial rink" to be built in Central Park. The Parks Department publicity materials stated that the rink guaranteed access to safe skating for New Yorkers "who have been deprived of the pleasure of regular, uninterrupted outdoor ice skating throughout the winter half year because of vagaries of our climate." Created as a memorial to her parents and four brothers, Wollman Rink opened at the south end of the park in 1950. More than 300,000 visitors arrived in the first year and by 1953 the rink had welcomed its one millionth skater. Noted for its vast size of approximately 31,000 square feet, the rink required over sixteen miles of 1 ¼ inch wrought-iron pipe for construction.

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Wollman Memorial Skating Rink, Central Park, 1960. Mayor Wagner Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

In addition to Wollman Rink, Central Park is also home to the Lasker Rink and Pool located at the northern end of the park near the Harlem Meer. Named for its major benefactor Loula Davis Lasker, a philanthropist and social worker, who donated $600,000 to help build the rink in 1961, the skating rink opened in 1966 and is converted into a public swimming pool during the summer months.

This blog is adapted from the Municipal Archives’ forthcoming publication, The Central Park, Original Designs for New York’s Greatest Treasure.

The book is now available for pre-order from the publisher, Abrams Books:

https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/central-park_9781419732324/