South End Self-Guided Tour

The Dairy
Calvert Vaux, Park co-designer and architect, designed this Victorian Gothic Revival structure with an ample loggia as a respite for Park visitors, particularly for children and invalids, where they could buy a glass of fresh milk and catch the cool summer breezes coming off the northern lobe of the Pond (now Wollman Skating Rink). However, when the building finally opened to the public in 1870, city officials established it as thePark’s first “fast food” eatery. In the 1950s, the dilapidated loggia was torn down, and the remaining stone structure was reduced to a maintenance storage shed. In 1979, under the new Central Park Administration, the restored Dairy became the Park’s first visitor center, and in 1981, the loggia was returned to its original Victorian elegance by the newly formed Central Park Conservancy. Today the Dairy is the Park’s premier gift shop.

Chess and Checkers House
In 1866, Calvert Vaux designed the largest and most elaborate rustic summerhouse in the Park for children and their caregivers, known as the “Kinderberg” (Dutch for children’s mountain). The open-air shelter, made from unmilled timber, was built atop a large rock outcrop. Children and their caregivers sat at rustic chairs and tables to play games that they could borrow from the Dairy. After many years of neglect and disrepair, the structure was torn down in the early 1950s. In 1952, the present brick Chess and Checkers House was built and chess tables were placed around it, making it a haven for enthusiasts of both time-honored games. In 1984, the Chess and Checkers House was refurbished and a wisteria pergola was added. In May 2007, it reopened as the official visitor center for the Park’s south end and as the volunteer headquarters. Visitors can borrow different games and sit at the 24 chess tables under a modern-day pergola to match wits and enjoy the summer shade.

Wollman Skating Rink
When the Park was being planned, New Yorkers demanded a place for the new sport of ice skating because the rivers surrounding the island of Manhattan rarely froze. Immediately, the Pond and the Lake - both man-made water bodies - became the most popular winter destinations in the Park. Frustrated by the whims of Mother Nature, however, Park visitors wanted the guarantee of ice skating all season long. In 1950, Kate Wollman donated the money for the rink, which was placed on the northern arm of the Pond. In the 1980s, the rink was reconstructed by the City of New York with assistance from real estate developer Donald Trump, whose organization manages it today.

The Pond and Hallett Nature Sanctuary
The Pond is one of the Park’s masterpieces of engineering and technology. Designed to resemble a quiet woodland lake, it is actually lined with geosynthetic materials and filled with city water by subterranean pipes. Concrete shelves, constructed along the naturalistic shoreline, feature many plants and shrubs that contribute to the impression of a bucolic lagoon set deep in the woods. From the 1870s until 1924, visitors to the Pond could ride on swan boats, still a famous attraction at the Boston Public Garden. The Promontory is a rocky woodland slope that juts into the Pond. In 1934 it was renamed the Hallett Nature Sanctuary, set aside for wildlife and closed to the public. Tours of the Sanctuary are given in season by members of the Central Park Conservancy youth programs.