Washington Square Park, NYC

'Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God'.

—Washington

The above quote welcomes the visitor to Washington Square Park, located at the foot of 5th Avenue in Greenwich Village, New York City, NY. Washington Square is one of the most recognizable open Squares in the world. 

George Washington was inaugurated there in 1789. The Square has been the site of several riots and protests throughout history starting with a labor riot in 1834. Supposedly Robert Louis Stevenson met and talked with Mark Twain there in 1888.

After the end of WWII the Square became especially famous as the location where folk singers, beatniks and hippies gathered to exchange their music and political views. In 2007 Barack Obama held one of the largest political rallies in New York City history at Washington Square Park. 

The movie Searching for Bobby Fischer was filmed using the chess tables permanently installed at the Square. New York University, (NYU) now owns most of the buildings around the Square.

The Washington Square Arch, constructed in 1892

The Washington Square Fountain, constructed in 1872

Washington Square has long celebrated 'nonconformity'

'Washington at Peace', by A. Stirling Calder on the Arch, (1917)