Rotunda, City Hall Park

The Rotunda, City Hall Park. Lithograph by Sarony & Major, published in the Annual report of the Governors of the Alms House, New York, 1851. Source: HathiTrust Digital Library.

The Rotunda was built in 1818 at the northeast corner of City Hall Park, with 56 feet in diameter, and was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. New York City leased the site free of charge to the artist John Vanderlyn (1775–1852), and donations from John Jacob Astor and others helped fund the structure which was designed to display Vanderlyn's panorama The Palace and Gardens of Versailles, painted between 1818 and 1819.

After Vanderlyn lost his lease, in 1829, the building was used for a range of artistic and government functions. It was adapted in 1848 to house government offices and demolished in 1870.