Sunrise in Central Park after a snowstorm in New York City (© Mitchell Funk/Getty Images)

【December 28 2014】When America's first urban park officially opened in 1873, it offered New Yorkers 843 acres of idyllic, naturalistic refuge from the frenetic pace of city life. But it didn't always look like this. People were already living in shanty towns and established neighborhoods here before landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted and architect Calvert Vaux redesigned the land. To make room for the park, residents were evicted and their communities razed. Today, Central Park is the most visited park in the country, attracting more than 25 million people a year. Explore breathtaking Gallery from the HuluTrip homepage over the past 5 years..