The Dairy Visitor Center and Gift Shop The Dairy Visitor Center and Gift Shop, 65th Street Transverse, New York, NY, USA

Find information on Park events and programs at the Dairy, one of the Conservancy's five visitor centers. Maps, guides, and gifts are also available, all of which support the Conservancy's mission. Park architect and designer Calvert Vaux originally created this charming Victorian cottage as a quiet retreat for children and their caregivers. In the 19th century, the Dairy became a source of fresh milk and snacks. Families came to drink milk and enjoy pastries and ices under the loggia and enjoy the cooling breezes coming from the nearby pond.

By the 1950s, the building had become dilapidated. The Parks Department tore down the decrepit loggia and turned the building into a maintenance shed. Then in 1979, the new Central Park administration cleaned up the building and turned it into the Park's first visitor center. A year later, Central Park Conservancy was founded and the loggia, recreated from historic photographs, was completed.

The Central Park Dairy, which now serves as an information center and gift shop inside the park, was originally intended as a source of fresh milk for children in the late 19th century.

The Dairy was constructed in 1870; at this time, fresh milk for children was difficult to find and desperately sought after by parents. The Dairy was built at the southern end on the park, originally the children's section, to provide milk and snacks for children in the cool and relaxing atmosphere near the Pond.

Most of the building itself, located at 65th street, was constructed in the Victorian Gothic style, in particular its windows and spires. The building's beams and ceilings, however, are more reminiscent of those found in a barn, painted in bright yellow and orange colors.