Washington Square Park is a popular meeting place for artists, folk singers, street entertainers and students. At its southwest corner can be found game tables where locals gather to play chess and scrabble.
The square has a bohemian history and an art fair is held here each May and September, at which local artists sell their work. The first of these fairs were held in 1932 to help artists during the great depression.
Washington Square Park was originally marshland through which the Monetta brook once flowed. The land has had many uses, first as a cemetary, then a dueling site, gallows and military parade ground, before finally becoming a public park in 1827.
In 1889 a large plaster and wood Memorial Arch was erected on Fifth Avenue to celebrate the inaugeration of George Washington as America's first president. It was replaced in 1892 by the white marble Washington centennial Arch, designed after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris by architect Stanford White, which now sits in the centre of the park. The monumental water fountain that stands in front of the Arch was erected in 1872.
The streets around Washington Square Park is where New York gentility built there homes in the mid nineteenth century to escape lower Manhattan. The Square's northside, more commonly known as the 'Row,' for its row of 1830's Greek revival houses, is all that remains. Most of these buildings now belong to NYU (New York University).
Opening
The park is open all year round
Address
5 Avenue, Waverly Place
West 4th and MacDougal Streets
NY 10012
Tel: 212-363-3200
How to Get There
Subway:
Take the A, B, C, D, E, F or V train to West 4th St / Washington Square
External Links
Official website
|
