From: Genius of Place by Justin Martin (Recommended Reading)
“Mr. Olmsted was finding that he had a knack for park administration just as much as park making. He posted speed limits: five miles per hour for carriages, six for horses. And he also set aside designated spots where visitors could leave carriages, an innovation that he was among the first to employ. In fact, the innovation was so cutting-edge that no term for it yet existed, so Mr. Olmsted called these spots ‘carriage rests.’
During the twentieth century planners would also need a place where an automobile could be left, and some anonymous wordsmith dreamed up a suitable term – parking space.”