Literary Walk: C69
At the southern part of the
Mall, the main thoroughfare and gateway into Central Park is Literary Walk.
With mounting concern that the many requests to have statues installed in the Park would eventually deprive it of its naturalistic character, Olmsted proposed that the
Mall itself be allocated to the installation of sculptures.
It wasn't long after Olmsted's decree that the statues of
William Shakespeare and
Sir Walter Scott were installed in 1872. Soon afterward in 1880
Robert Burns was dedicated and following soon afterward for some unknown reason
Columbus made it to this place of literary distinction in 1894.
At the southern end of Literary walk is the only Park tribute to its creator Frederick Law Olmsted, the
Olmsted Flower Bed. It features beautifully blooming pansies, impatiens and tulips and is a veritable explosion of color in the spring and well worth a visit for that alone.