Initially it was marsh land with the Minetta Creek flowing through it. The Dutch turned it into a farm and then gave it to their freed slaves. It then became known as "the land of the Blacks".
The NYC Common Council purchased the land in 1797 and made it a potter's field and the place for public hangings. One or two hangings have been reported to have taken place in the park. The Cemetery was closed in 1825 but never moved and it is estimated that 20,000 souls rest underneath the park. During remodeling of the park in 2007 a headstone from 1797 was unearthed.
In 1826 it was a military parade ground. In 1871 the park came under the control of the newly formed Parks Commission. In 1934 Robert Moses included the park in his urban renewal plan. He wanted to extend Firth Ave. through the middle of the park. The opposition was strong, and most especially tireless, considering the fact that it took over 30 years to free the park of vehicular traffic. They won, thanks to the hard work of Jane Jacobs, Shirley Hayes and Eleanor Roosevelt, who lived on Washington Square Park West.
In time the park became a hangout for artists, musicians, comics and many types of performers.
First the Beatniks and folksingers in the 50's and early 60's. The community, mostly working class, considered them "undesirables" and got the authorities to 'clean' up the park. April 9, 1961 was what the NY Mirror called the 'Beatnik riot'. 500 musicians had gathered to protest the law requiring permits in order to play music in the park. They were met by police with billy clubs, and ten people were arrested. The park was thereafter patrolled by police and was pretty much a community park until the 70's when it became a hangout for drug dealing and general criminal activity.
Some of the many people who have hung out in the park: Buddy Holly, when he lived nearby, Stanley Kubrick played chess in the park and Barack Obama held a political rally there on 9/27/07.
$16 million is being spent for the renovation.
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