Washington Square Park

Washington Square Park is named for George Washington, commander of the Continental Army and the first President of the United States, who was inaugurated in New York City on April 30, 1789. The parkland was once a marsh fed by Minetta Brook near an Indian village known as Sapokanikan or “Tobacco Field.” In 1797 the Common Council acquired the land for use as a Potter’s Field and for public executions, giving rise to the legend of the Hangman’s Elm in the park’s northwest corner. First used as the Washington Military Parade Ground in 1826, the site became a public park in 1827. Wealthy and prominent families then moved into the area to escape disease and congestion in downtown Manhattan and built Greek Revival mansions along the square’s north side. In 1838 the park hosted Samuel F.B. Morse’s first public demonstration of the telegraph. After the Department of Public Parks was created in 1870, M.A. Kellogg and I.A. Pilat redesigned the square along principles associated with Frederick Law Olmsted, creating a more rustic and informal landscape with curving peripheral paths, diagonal paths in the core, plots of grass, and shade trees, while adding a carriage drive through the interior linking Fifth Avenue to Lower Manhattan. The marble Washington Arch, designed by Stanford White, was built between 1890 and 1892, replacing a wooden arch erected in 1889 for the centennial of Washington’s inauguration. Statues later installed on the arch’s north side depicted Washington as Commander-in-Chief with Fame and Valor in 1916 by Hermon MacNeil and Washington as President with Wisdom and Justice in 1918 by Alexander Sterling Calder. Other monuments include John Quincy Adams Ward’s bust of Alexander Lyman Holley, Giovanni Turini’s statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi, a World War I flagpole, and the central fountain moved from Fifth Avenue and 59th Street in the mid-1870s. During the 20th century the park was reshaped socially and culturally as labor unions marched there after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911, Ashcan School artists such as John Sloan painted there, and bohemian, Beat, and folk communities gathered there, making it a haven for performers and protesters. Fifth Avenue continued through the arch until 1964, when the park was redesigned and closed to traffic after pressure from Greenwich Village residents. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the fountain was lowered, a two-tiered central plaza was created, the southwest mounded area became a play space, and chess and gaming tables at the south and northwest entryways helped create a vibrant culture with an international reputation. In the 1990s the playgrounds were upgraded, petanque courts and a teen plaza were added in the southwest precinct, and a dog run was introduced. The Washington Square Arch was restored in 2003-04, and after extensive study and community input the park was rebuilt in a three-phase renovation designed by George Vellonakis. The first phase in 2009 brought a renovated accessible fountain and plaza, conservation of the Alexander Holley Monument, more seating, expanded lawns, and new planting beds. The second phase in 2012 added a small dog run, a new chess plaza, a performance stage, a new park house and comfort stations by BKSK Architects, and a safer redesigned mounded play area in the southwest. Today the park remains a dynamic commons for local residents, chess players, students, performers, and tourists from around the globe.

New York, New York · United States