City Beautiful BLOG

Washington Square Park, bustling with performers, skateboarders, students, locals, and tourists, is a site familiar to people from many movies set in New York City. It’s the center of Greenwich Village, home to the Washington Square Arch, and it marks the beginning of Fifth Avenue. But before it became a park, it had a long history of transformations from – farmland, a potter’s field, a military ground, a place for public executions, the fanciest neighborhood in New York City, and a Bohemian enclave – to what it is now.

Farmland

Before the Europeans settled on the island of Manhattan, the area was a marsh. During the Colonial times, in the 1600s, the swampy land turned into remote farmland.

Potter’s Field

In the 18Th century, the bucolic farmland gave way to a macabre burial ground. Since the epidemics of malaria and yellow fever were frequent in 18Th century New York, the city needed to bury its dead. Soon after the Revolutionary War (in the mid-1780s), it acquired this land as a potter’s field. After about twenty years of use, with around 20,000 people buried, the potter’s field was filled.   Adding to the morbid picture, the city erected a public gallows around the current location of the fountain.

Military Ground

Leveled and landscaped, the cemetery was repurposed into the city’s military ground.  On July 4, 1826, as a part of celebrations dedicated to the 50Th anniversary of signing the Declaration of Independence, the potter’s field was officially declared the Washington Parade Ground. Soon after, the name was trimmed to “Washington Square.”

Upscale Residential Enclave

By the 1830s, the area had developed into a prime residential neighborhood. The Greek revival buildings lining Washington Square North, called The Row, housed the city’s wealthiest residents.

Beautiful Park

As the neighborhood grew prestigious, there came the need to redesign a modest parade ground into a stylish park. The project was entrusted to Ignatz Pilát, who worked with Frederick Law Olmsted on constructing Central Park. In 1870, Pilát designed the park, replacing the rigid symmetry of the military ground with soft, meandering pathways appropriate for the city garden. A fountain that used to grace one of the entrances to Central Park was placed in the middle of Washington Square Park.

The Capital of American Bohemia

The 20th century brought a dramatic change to the neighborhood when it turned from the center of New York high society to the capital of American Bohemia. The wealthy inhabitants moved up 5Th Avenue, leaving the infrastructure that was quickly filled with the less moneyed types who embraced unconventional lifestyles and artistic pursuits. Attracted by the low rents and creative community, painters, writers, poets, musicians, and actors flooded the neighborhood, turning the Village into a Bohemian capital.

In 1917, Washington Square Park became the center of The Revolution of Washington Square. Six Villagers, including artists Marcel Duchamp and John Sloan, climbed to the top of the Washington Square Arch and proclaimed Greenwich Village a free and independent republic of Washington Square. The Revolution of Washington Square resulted in the door at the base of the arch to be permanently shut.

The Fight Against Robert Moses

During the Great Depression, the Park was not faring well. Its lawns were brown, the trees withering, and the fountain not flowing. In 1935, Commissioner Robert Moses proposed a downtown renovation, replacing a significant portion of Lower Manhattan, including Soho and the Villages, with a major roadway. Greenwich Village put up quite a fight and defeated Moses’s plan, saving the Park. The Bohemian heritage resumed: folksingers Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie, and Bob Dylan sang in the Park while the beat poets like Allen Ginsburg recited their works.

The Decline of the 1970s

Up until 1971, the traffic could go through the Park. After the park was redesigned to be car-free, it became much more pleasant for pedestrians. However, the 1970s were pretty rough times in New York, and the Park became a drug dealing center, turning dingy and even dangerous.

Washington Square Park now

Despite all the changes, some things stay the same. As a historical continuum, Washington Square Park is still a playground for students. It’s been that way since New York University opened its doors in 1831.

NYC has an amazing capacity to renew. Like a cat with nine lives, Washington Square Park is once again one of the loveliest places in the city.