I have four old photos of my father, two of which were taken in front of a stone wall, and the other two while sitting on a bench.
The first two were in such a poor condition that the details in the background were invisible. However I could see persons, stone wall, fence and even downward steps. I wondered if the vague background were Hudson River for sometime.
I decided to visit the New York Historical Society for the second time on January 6, 2015, where the consultant readily recognized the place to be the Belvedere Castle not far from the Society, so I walked all the way to the visitor’s center of the Castle while braving rather heavy morning snow.
The employee recognized the site of the first two photos, and took another employee to go out of the building for the exact site in the front court of the castle. There the first employee positioned me in front of the wall while the second person took two photos. I thanked them sincerely before I left the Castle. It’s snowing constantly and I felt that I would wait for some other warm clear day for my next visit.
On June 6, 2015, I revisited this Castle and I tried to find the photo site of the second two photos where father and his two friends were wearing winter coats and sitting on a bench. From the old two pictures I was able to see the castle tower clearly, a long stone wall from the tower all the way to the right side of the photos,, a partial view of a sculptured pillar, a pedestrian walk, and an uphill slope ending at the wall. I entered the first pedestrian walk from the front court until I thought to have found the right place in terms of the location from which I viewed the castle-tower complex at the right angle, and there I was standing and looking around for the landmarks of the uphill slope, the long stone wall, and the pillar next to the bench, and the bench itself, none of which were seen!
The only objects still present were the Castle-tower complex and the pedestrian walk. Incidentally the elevated topography was replaced by a low marsh and pond area, indicating a drastic change since then. So what happened to the right-sided hill, stone wall and the pillar? At that time I was in some hurry to return to the Apartment, so I had to plan for my return trip next time, and possibly ask for help at the visitor’s center again.
I waited until this Thanksgiving visit to my son’s home at Southampton, Long Island, and then finally made another visit to the same visitor’s center on Monday November 28, 2016. I did find a really nice employee who expressed her strong interest in my search and went out to the same pedestrian walk, and while looking at the castle structure, she pointed a spot on right side of the walk. After she was gone, I took some photos focusing the vacant spot where the bench had been, and including all the landmarks. However I made an error of using portrait view, which could not include the right-sided landmarks such as the stone wall and hill. So I came back on December 3 to finalize my photo session. Here I took several photos pretending to be the former photographer taking the photo at the right distance and right angle for the right view and contents.
The last image was the scanning of the central park map, which the employee drew a large rectangle to comprise the Great Lawn, Turtle Pond and Belvedere Castle, the last of which is represented by a small blue rectangle at the right lower corner. Upon close observation you may find a hand-drawn line from the right lower angle heading upward, piercing through the small blue rectangle up to the midpoint of the right line. She indicated to me that the inverse “V” shape drawn by her to be the very site of father sitting on the bench. I believe that I found the much sought spot!
If any of you have a chance to visit the Central Park of Manhattan, please consider including this beautiful Belvedere Castle located at Mid Park at 79th Street, New York, NY.

Belvedere Castle


Two photos in front of stone wall: Left father alone, right father and his friend
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Two photos at the same site: Left a vacant space, right Kwan Ho Chung replaced
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Gazebo on landscape view


Father with Dr. Lee Heegyung on a bench


Father with another friend


CKH-29 Vacant Pedestrian walk


CKH-30 KHChung on Pedestrian walk


CKH-34 Castle Map


Afterthought

My motivation for this search was first of all to discover the very locations of these photos. With the help of the employees, it was successful. Then by comparing these new photos with 90 year old photos on the first site, the stone wall itself was totally unchanged though there were some additions such as roof, pillars, and gazebo.
However on the second site the panoramic view showed a drastic change primarily due to removal of the hill and creation of a new pond called Turtle Pond. Gone are the bench, hill, pillar, and stone wall. Still standing firm are the Belvedere Castle structures, pedestrian walk and ever-lasting beautiful atmosphere. I was so happy to be here and to accomplish my wishes, and felt so elated that I recited the last stanza of an ancient Chinese poem, “幸甚至哉, 歌以詠志”., i.e., How lucky I am to be here, making me sing and express my contentment.