In the 1850s, Nicholas Dean, the board president of the Croton Aqueduct water distribution system, proposed that Central Park be planned around its existing receiving reservoir (known then as the Yorkville Reservoir and nowadays the site of the Great Lawn and Turtle Pond).

The reservoir was renamed in 1994 in honor of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to commemorate her many contributions to the city and because she had enjoyed jogging in the area.

[10] For several months, Central Park's commissioners faced delays and resistance from the New York City common council while attempting to gain funding.

[13] The southern section of Central Park below 79th Street was mostly completed by 1860,[14] and the Croton Aqueduct board also started filling in the Reservoir around this time.

[15] The reservoir was decommissioned in 1993, after it was deemed obsolete because of a new main under 79th Street that connected with the Third Water Tunnel, and because of growing concerns that it could become contaminated.

[16] The year 1999 was chosen because it was the projected completion date for a filtration plant at Van Cortlandt Park, near the Jerome Reservoir in the Bronx, which is part of the city's Croton water-supply system.

[18] In 1994 the reservoir was renamed in honor of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to commemorate her many contributions to the city (which included helping to save Grand Central Terminal from demolition and helping to restore it as an architectural landmark, protesting against proposed structures that would have marred Central Park's beauty, and serving as a board member of the Municipal Art Society).

Many joggers have used the 1.58-mile (2.54 km)[21] Stephanie and Fred Shuman Running Track,[22] including Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Madonna, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

The design was based on a section of the original fence discovered by scuba divers at the bottom of the reservoir.