Tavern on the Green

Immediately prior to the construction of Central Park, the location of Tavern on the Green was home to the Menck Bone Boiling Works, a rendering plant that one of the numerous olfactory delights of this rugged area that inspired wealthy Upper West Siders to promote the creation of Central Park and pump up their property values. Park architect Calvert Vaux designed the Sheepfold, a 1870 building that housed sheep who grazed on the Sheep Meadow just to the east. The building was converted to a restaurant during a 1934 renovation of the park by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses.

The building was extensively renovated in 1976 and in 2005 it was the second highest-grossing independently-owned restaurant in America, with annual revenues in excess of $34 million and over half a million visitors a year. However, that wasn't enough to stave off bankruptcy and conversion into a park visitor's center.