Birmingham Botanical GardensAt the southern end of the loop is Birmingham Botanical Gardens, which feels more like a park than a museum of plants. Parts of Central Park had already opened to the public, so he was keen to talk to city officials in Birmingham about strategies for maintaining order in parks. In Central Park, Olmsted had established a security system that resembled the policing of city streets. On his tour of the Botanical Gardens, he no doubt admired the small conservatory near the entrance, built seven years earlier. Several years later, in designing Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, Olmsted created a similarly quiet nook in the Ravine where Ambergill Falls , one of a series of man-made cascades, still attracts park-goers in search of solitude.

Source: International New York Times October 30, 2019 09:00 UTC