April 10th, 1797

The Common Council purchases 90 lots for a new potter’s field (public burial ground). A new public cemetery is needed because of the yellow fever epidemic. These 90 lots represent two-thirds of the land that now makes up Washington Square.

November, 1803

William Coleman, Editor of the New York Evening Post, and Captain Thompson, harbormaster of the port of New York, fight a dual. This dual is one of many duals that happen in the park. Duals continue until April, 1828 when it is prohibited by state law.

July 8, 1819

The last known public hanging takes place. A young black woman, Rose Butler, is hanged for setting fire to a house in which she works. She never confesses to the crime, because, in all likelihood, the fire is accidental.

May 1, 1825

The cemetery is officially closed and burials are prohibited. To this day, the remains of more than 20,000 bodies rest under Washington Square. In 1890, workmen digging the foundation for the arch came
upon headstones with German inscriptions dating to 1803. The new potter’s field is moved to Fifth Avenue between Fortieth and Forty-second streets, which is now Bryant Park.

February 27, 1826

The cemetery is officially changed to The Washington Military Parade Ground. Military parade grounds are specified public spaces within the city where voluntary militia companies train. Before the federal government establishes a standing army, the country’s defense is the responsibility of a voluntary militia of citizen-soldiers, who are expected to show up for drilling and reviews led by appointed officers.

May, 27 1837

The Gothic Revival building housing the University of the City of New York on Washington Square is dedicated. At this city university (which eventually becomes New York University in 1896), courses of study emphasize science, modern languages, and economics-subjects not included in the classical curriculum of Columbia University.

January, 1852

The fountain in the center of the park is completed. The fountain is a circular basin of bluestone measuring 100 feet in diameter. The fountain gives Washington Square a definitive central focus and heightens the impression of the park as a pleasure garden.

June 4, 1888

The monument of Giuseppe Garibaldi is unveiled. Garibaldi is the commander of the insurrectionary forces in Italy’s struggle for unification. Garibaldi is one of the greatest guerrilla generals in history and the most popular Italian patriot of his time.

May 4, 1895

The Washington Arch is formally dedicated. Grover Cleveland, in his second term as president, comes up from Washington for the dedication. Cleveland had attended the ground breaking shortly after his first term ended in 1889.

March 25, 1911

A fire breaks out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. The shop owners, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, lock their six hundred workers in the densely packed workrooms to prevent latecomers from slipping in or anyone from leaving early. The fire is under control in eighteen minutes and all over in a half hour. By then, 146 young men and women are dead and more died the next day. Washington Square is the gathering place for friends and families looking for their loved ones.

September 2, 1912

The Labor Day Parade marches down Fifth Avenue to Washington Square. Approximately 20,000 workers, with a quarter of them women, march in memory of the Triangle Fire. Many of the women wear fitted tucked-front blouses like those manufactured by the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. The clothing style becomes the working woman’s uniform and a symbol of female independence, reflecting the alliance of labor and suffrage movements. Their efforts through the 1910s culminate in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution guaranteeing women the right to vote in 1920.

1910-1914

Bohemian culture captures the hearts of many American artists, writers, and activists and the center of their activity is Washington Square Park and Greenwich Village. Famous inhabitants and users of Washington Square Park include Willa Cather, John Reed, Max Eastman, Theodore Dreiser, Upton Sinclair, Sinclair Lewis, Marcel Duchamp, and Eugene O’Neill. Later the park is a gathering area for those involved in the beat, folk, and hippie movements. Personalities such as Alan Ginsberg and Bob Dylan are seen first exploring their arts in the park.

October 23, 1915

Over 25,000 people march in a parade demanding women’s suffrage. The Parade goes from Washington Square Park, where much of the radical and feminist movements are centered, and travels up 5th Avenue to 59th Street.

January 1, 1934

Robert Moses becomes the Parks Commissioner of New York. Robert Moses is a continual threat to Washington Square Park through his years as Parks Commissioner. After renovating the fountain into a wading pool and repairing the leaks in the roof of the arch he embarks on a crusade to fully redo the park in a design that the inhabitants of Washington Square Park all hate. They fight his influence for three decades.

January 31, 1950

NYU lays the corner stone to build the Law Center in Washington Square. Despite years of protest from the residents of the area, NYU continues to expand into Washington Square. Many residents fear that Washington Square Park is essentially becoming part of NYU’s private campus. This fear is furthered when NYU builds its Bobst library on Washington Square Park in the early 1970s.

November 1, 1958

Washington Square Park is officially closed to all traffic excepting emergency and bus traffic. Finally bringing the conflicts with Robert Moses to an end,
the activists in the area secure an official trial period of no traffic in the park. This goes smoothly and does
not cause any major delays, and so the community wins. Five months later Washington Square Park is closed
to buses.

1970

The Park is finally renovated according to the ideas and plans of Greenwich Village and Washington Square Park residents. The appearance of Washington Square Park today is a result of this collaborative redesign.