Washington Square (Philadelphia)
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Washington Square
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northeast entrance (2013)
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| Location | between Walnut and 6th Sts., West and South Washington Square Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
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| Coordinates | Coordinates: 39°56′48.68″N 75°9′9.51″W / 39.9468556°N 75.1526417°W |
| Area | 6.4 acres (2.6 ha) |
| Built | 1683 |
| Architect |
Thomas Holme G. Edwin Brumbaugh |
| MPS | Four Public Squares of Philadelphia TR |
| NRHP Reference # | 81000558 |
| Added to NRHP | September 14, 1981 |
Washington Square, originally designated in 1682 as Southeast Square, is a 6.4 acres (2.6 ha) open-space park in Center City Philadelphia's southeast quadrant and one of the five original planned squares laid out on the city grid by William Penn's surveyor, Thomas Holme. It is part of both the Washington Square West and Society Hill neighborhoods. In 2005, the National Park Service took over ownership and management of Washington Square, through an easement from the City of Philadelphia. It is now part of Independence National Historical Park.
During the 18th century, the Square was used to graze animals and for burials by the city's African American community and as a potter's field, much like the park of the same name in New York's Greenwich Village. During the Revolutionary War, the square was used as a burial ground for citizens and troops from the Colonial army.
After the Revolution, victims of the city's yellow fever epidemics were interred here, and the square was used for cattle markets and camp meetings. Improvement efforts began in 1815, as the neighborhoods around the square were developed and became fashionable. In 1825, the park was named Washington Square in tribute to George Washington and a monument to Washington was proposed. This monument was never built but served as the seed for the eventual tribute to soldiers of the Revolutionary War.
Washington Square included an area called Lawyer's Row at 6th and Walnut, on the site of the former Walnut Street Prison. The square was also home to the city's publishing industry, including the Curtis Publishing Company, J. B. Lippincott, W. B. Saunders, Lea & Febiger, the Farm Journal, and George T. Bisel Co., law publishers, now the sole remaining publishing house on the Square, with Franklin Jon Zuch serving as president since 1992. It has been located there since 1876 and still owned by the Bisel family.
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Wikipedia