In 1891, 250 acres were set aside for a New York Botanical Garden out of the 640 acres acquired for the Bronx Park around 1888.
Nathaniel and Elizabeth Britton Lord, whose ideas inspired the park and conservatory, were influenced when they visited the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew in London.
The Conservatory, built mostly of steel, cast iron, wood, and glass, was designed by the Lord and Burnham Company, the premier glasshouse design and fabrication firm of the time.
Construction (from 1899–1902) cost $177,000. The Zoo opened in November 1899, with 843 animals in 22 exhibits.—wikipedia.org.
Interesting to read about the Bronx and to see the old postcards…
I lived within walking distance of the Bronx Zoo from 1938 till 1961. Many enjoyable visits were to the zoo and the adjacent Bronx Park as well as to the Botanical Gardens.
I make mention of some of the areas near the zoo in my two books, The House on the Sixth Floor and Bouquet, both memoirs centered in the Bronx. Book are available from Lulu.com or Amazon. Joan Polishook
While we (Art Austin) and I were going together, I was in Brooklyn, NY, in Nurses training and we visited this Zoo, and many other places in NYC.
This was after Art came home from being in WWII. He’d go to his brother Raymond in Staten Island and then visit me weekends, all through my last yr of school. It was nice as there were a lot of nice things to visit in NYC.