Harlem Bespoke: We periodically write about the the beautiful Conservatory Garden by the East Harlem side of Central Park at 5th Avenue and 105th Street but realized our last history post was about a decade ago when we started the blog up. Did you know that there was an actual Gilded Age greenhouse similar to that of the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens originally on site? Below is the original post form 2009 that accompanied the above archival images:
As we are wont to do, Harlem Bespoke delved into some old historic photos of the original East Harlem Conservatory for which the gardens at Central Park are named. The top illustration is the original design proposed around 1862 when Central Park was being envisioned by Vaux and Olmstead. It became less monolithic during the construction period as seen in the center illustration. Finally, the last photo shows something in between the first two sketches. In the 1930's, Robert Moses' Parks Commission decided that the city could not afford to maintain the buildings and had them demolished, even though they still thrived as legitimate greenhouses. There is a beautiful garden on the site today, but it would have been even more grand had these structures remained as a part of the scenery. See the previous post on the Conservatory Garden at East 105th Street: LINK
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