Grand Army Plaza, ca. 1903.

Grand Army Plaza was built during the original construction of Prospect Park in the 1860s, one of the first features of the park to be designed and completed. The plaza was designed by park planners Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted.

Grand Army Plaza is also home to the Soldiers and Sailors Arch, which is similar in design to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France. Dedicated to Union soldiers, the arch was designed by John H. Duncan, whose proposal was selected from 36 applicants who submitted their plans for the monument. Construction began in 1889, and the arch was unveiled in 1892.

The bronze statues that adorn the arch were added beginning in 1898. On top of the arch is a statue of three women in a four-horse chariot, leading the soldiers to victory. On the inside of the arch are reliefs of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant on horseback. The two large groups of figures on the south face of the arch are meant to welcome the soldiers and sailors home from war.