NYU History Lesson: WSP’s Bizarre History

By Sara Trigoboff

With last week’s news that Washington Square Park will never host another NYU graduation, we thought it would be fitting to take a quick historical tour explaining why maybe that’s not such a bad idea. After all, sentimental value aside, it’s a pretty creepy park. Maybe it’s because it used to be a cemetery, maybe it’s because it used to be a parade grounds. Who knows? But we’re definitely not the only ones with a legacy in WSP.

Here are some odd uses of the Park through history:

Tobacco field — In the 16th century, WSP was only a part of a Native American village named Sapokanikan, or “tobacco field.” So remember this, Bobst smokers — you’re part of an important cultural legacy no matter what NYU says.

“The Land of the Blacks” — After settlers arrived, the area became a Dutch farmland. The Dutch then semi-gifted it to a group of slaves, and so it was known as “The Land of the Blacks.” Offensive much?

Public burial ground — Remember this? Next time you’re walking through the Park early in the morning, think twice about that rustling tree. It probably isn’t just the wind — there’s still 20,000 remains under the park.

Military parade ground — The shutting down of the potter’s field in 1826 helped encourage the neighborhood’s growth, as did its conversion into a military parade ground. The Greek Revival houses that lined the park soon housed the city’s elite, a population NYU is much indebted to. In 1853, when the University’s $50,000 deficit almost shut us down, eight of the ten donors who covered the cost were neighborhood residents. The parade ground was soon repurposed, laying the ground for the park we love so well.

Public execution — Well, it was super efficient. The cemetery was right there. The hanging tree was the “Hangman’s Elm,” (pictured above) which is still in the northwest corner of the Park. The last person to be publicly hung (from gallows) in Washington Square Park was Rose Butler, a slave condemned for burning down her mistress’s house.

So if graduating in Yankee Stadium isn’t exactly what you signed up for, at least you’re not receiving your diploma above thousands of dead people, right?