1890; 1931

General view - Manhattan - Central Park - The Obelisk.

(1) Central Park: The Obelisk, or "Cleopatra's Needle", seen through the trees from the east side of the abandoned Lower Reservoir, with the Carlyle apartment building, at Madison Avenue and 76th Street, in the background. P. L. Sperr. June 28, 1931. (2) The Obelisk, a closer view, and more towards the north. P. L. Sperr. June 28, 1931. (3) The Obelisk known as Cleopatra's Needle which was given to the United States by the Khedive of Egypt in 1877 and set on its base on this site on January 22, 1881; the cornerstone being laid, October 9, 1880. It originally stood in Cairo in front of the Temple of the Sun, having been erected about 1500 B.C. by Thothmes III. In 12 B.C. it was removed to Alexandria by Augustus Caesar. Wm. H. Vanderbilt supplied the funds necessary for its transportation to this country. About 1890. Eugene L. Armbruster Collection.

Photo from the New York Public Library - Milstein Collection