Exactly 40 years after embarking on a storied career with the Central Park Conservancy, Sara Cedar Miller, the organization’s former official photographer and historian emerita, will be retiring this month.

“It has never been an ordinary job—because, of course, the Park is extraordinary,” Miller said. She first came to the Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit responsible for all aspects of the Park’s care and maintenance, in 1984 when a friend told her about a job opening for a photographer. In the decades since, she’s photographed practically every area of Central Park.

“From photographing fundraising events, the problems in the Park, the successes of the Conservancy, the staff working, the beautiful landscapes, construction sites—you name it, and I did it,” she explained. “No two days have ever been exactly alike.”

Miller’s images of the Park have been critical to communicating the Central Park Conservancy’s mission and goals to the wider New York City community. She said that her before-and-after photos of the Park’s landscapes were especially powerful in garnering support for the Conservancy in its early years.

Five years into her career as the Conservancy’s photographer, she took on an additional role as Central Park historian. In this role, Miller has spent countless hours researching different areas of Central Park, educating visitors, and leading tours, which she calls her “favorite thing to do.”

“There’s so much to see that people just walk by and never notice,” she explained. “Almost every inch of it offers something interesting to learn.”

During this interview, which took place in Central Park, she pointed out several unique features of the landscape, such as the lamppost numbering system, which can be used to determine where you are in the Park, and the thoughtful design of the benches along the Concert Ground, which are in place partially to protect the American elm tree islands that face the Bandshell.

As a tour guide, she often answered the query, “What was this place before it was Central Park?” This question led her to write her most recent book, Before Central Park. The book chronicles the many people who lived or worked on the land before it became Central Park, from Indigenous hunters to Dutch settlers to Black landowners in Seneca Village.

“I knew Seneca Village was going to be a big part of my research because people actually lived there,” Miller explained. “The book winds up being a lot about real estate, because it turns out the history of New York City is about real estate,” she laughed. “I was able to do the research, read every deed, and understand things about Seneca Village that were previously unknown.”

In addition to Before Central Park, Miller is also the author of three other books which draw on her intimate knowledge of the Park: Central Park, An American Masterpiece: A Comprehensive History of the Nation’s First Urban Park; Seeing Central Park: The Official Guide to the World’s Greatest Urban Park; and Strawberry Fields: Central Park’s Memorial to John Lennon.

Miller’s impact on the Park and the Central Park Conservancy is palpable. “Working with Sara these past six years has been an honor,” shared Central Park Conservancy President & CEO Betsy Smith. “When I first started at the Conservancy as president, Sara’s kindness and generosity made all the difference. She has unstintingly shared her tremendous wealth of knowledge about both Central Park and the Conservancy with scores of staff members and visitors over the last four decades, and in doing so has been instrumental in establishing our unique expertise and reputation. Sara’s enthusiasm for the Park and her love of the Conservancy is a legacy that will enlighten generations to come. We are so grateful for her decades of loyalty; she will be greatly missed.”

While Miller is excited for the upcoming projects she’ll be turning her attention to, it’s clear that there will never be a time quite like this one. “It was a magical period in the Park’s history,” she said. “The Conservancy was successfully restoring the Park to its former glory and proved it was no longer an impossible dream.”