I recently stumbled upon these amazing decorative carvings in the Bethesda Terrace in Central Park. The first to catch my eye was an owl perched on a branch with a hovering winged bat in the background, partially obscured by the darkness of the stone cave.

I believe this carving depicts dusk—for "only when the dusk starts to fall does the owl of Minerva spread its wings and fly." To find this carving at Bethesda Terrace, head to the top of the stairs, look down towards the arch, and this carving will be to your left, facing south.

On the westerly side of the same pillar is Halloween—or the witching hour—with a hut and jack-o'-lantern to boot!

 

In addition to "dusk" and "the witching hour," there is a third evening-themed carving on the same pillar, facing east, depicting an open bible and an oil lamp. While on the other side of the stairs the westerly pillar bears three carvings representing daylight-themes.

According to Jean Parker Murphy and Kate Burns Ottavino in their "The Rehabilitation of Bethesda Terrace: The Terrace Bridge and Landscape, Central Park, New York" (1986), Bethesda Terrace was designed by architects Calvert Vaux and  Jacob Wrey Mould and constructed between 1859-1864. The stonework is New Brunswick sandstone (freestone) from the Albert, Dorchester, and Weston Quarries. Michelle and James Nevius suggest in their Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City that Halloween imagery was at this time rare in America and would probably be associated with the pagan rituals of the recently immigrated Irish, who made up much of the labor force that constructed the park. But some fifty years earlier Nathaniel Hawthorne makes a reference to a jack-o'-lantern in his Twice-Told Tale "The Great Carbuncle" (1837): "Hide it [the great carbuncle] under thy cloak, say'st thou? Why, it will gleam through the holes, and make thee look like a jack-o'-lantern!"