Washington Square Park, Chicago
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Washington Park | |
|---|---|
| (U.S. National Register of Historic Places) | |
 |
|
| Location: | Chicago, Illinois |
| Coordinates: | |
| Built/Founded: | September 4, 1842 (donation date) |
| Added to NRHP: | May 20, 1991 |
| Governing body: | Chicago Park District |
The Washington Square Park, a registered historic landmark that is better known by its nickname Bughouse Square (derived from the slang of bughouse referring to mental health facilities), was the most celebrated open air free-speech center in the country as well as a popular Chicago tourist attraction. It is sometimes referred to as simply Washington Square. It was located across Walton Street from Newberry Library at 901 N. Clark St. in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, USA.[1] It is Chicago's oldest existing small park.[2] It is one of 4 Chicago Park District parks named after persons surnamed Washington (Washington Park, Harold Washington Park, Dinah Washington Park). It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 20, 1991 and the neighboring Washington Square Historic District was later added to the register August 21, 2003. The Washington Square District was declared a Chicago Landmark on May 16, 1991 and Washington Square District Extension was declared a Chicago Landmark on July 10, 2002.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Origin
On September 4, 1842,[4] the city received a three-acre parcel that was donated by the members of the American Land Company for use as a public park. The property had once been a cow path with a well for farmers to water their cattle.[4] The donors named contributed the name Washington Square. Between 1869 and the 1890s, the city improved Washington Square with lawn, trees, bisecting diagonal walks, limestone coping, picket fencing and an attractive Victorian fountain. By the time Alderman McCormick became President of Drainage Board in 1906, the fountain had been razed and the park had deteriorated. Alderman McCormick devoted his aldermanic salary to improving the park. He donated a $600 fountain, and the city allocated an additional $10,000 to rehabilitate the park. By the 1910s, the neighborhood surrounding Washington Square had become more diverse.[5]
[edit] History
The original purpose of the neighborhood park was as a place of assembly to discuss community issues.[2] Chicago has a long storied history of public speeches both for entertainment and educational purposes. The Haymarket Riot first started as an anarchist workers rally. Daniel Burnham’s March 27, 1897 lecture for the Commercial Club of Chicago inspired the club to provide $80,000 to publish the Burnham Plan.[6]
Washington Square Park has been the geographic center of Chicago public speeches. By the 1890s the park acquired its Bughouse Square moniker. Soapbox orators waxed on topics ranging from gender relations to Communism[6] It served as a home for soapbox orators on warm-weather evenings from the 1910s to the mid-1960s. Like Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park, Washington Square became a popular spot for soap box orators. Artists, writers, political radicals, and hobos pontificated, lectured, recited poetry, ranted and raved. A group of regulars formed "The Dill Pickle Club," devoted to free expression. For years Washington Square orators appointed their own honorary "king."[5] In its heydays in the 1920s and 1930s, revolutionary left soapboxers were occasionally joined by poets, religionists and cranks.[1] In 1959, the city transferred Washington Square to the Chicago Park District.[5]
[edit] Today
Every July, the Bughouse Square Committee continues to oversee the annual Bughouse Square Debates free speech gathering in conjunction with the Newberry Library’s annual book sale.[1] The debates are part of an annual festival to recreate the atmosphere of speeches and debates by soap box orators that once flourished in the park.[4]
Although Alderman McCormick's fountain was removed in the 1970s, in the late 1990s, the park district, the city, and neighborhood organizations agreed on a restoration plan for Washington Square. Improvements include a reconstructed historic fountain, period lighting, fencing, and new plantings.[5] In the west part of the park, there is a memorial tablet designating the park as "Chicago's Premier Free Speech Forum."[4]
[edit] Related fora
- Jack Jones’s Dill Pickle Club, also known as the indoor Bughouse Square.[7]
- Washington Park forum, also known as the Bug Club.[7]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c Rosemont, Franklin Bughouse Square, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago, pp. 99. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9
- ^ a b Pacyga, Dominic A., Playgrounds and Small Parks, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago, pp. 622. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9
- ^ Washington Square District and Extension. City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division (2003). Retrieved on March 30, 2007.
- ^ a b c d Graf, John, Chicago's Parks Arcadia Publishing, 2000, p. 97., ISBN 0-7385-0716-4
- ^ a b c d Duo Consulting (2006). Washington Square Park. Chicago Park District. Retrieved on January 2, 2007.
- ^ a b Boehm, Lisa Krissoff, Lectures and Public Speaking, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago, pp. 466. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9
- ^ a b Rosemont, Franklin Free Speech, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago, pp. 316. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9
[edit] External links
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
|
|
||
|---|---|---|
| History • Neighborhoods • Places and Landmarks • Parks • Architecture • Culture • Theatre • Sports • Media • Colleges and Universities • Public Schools • Economy • Government • Geography • Climate • Metropolitan Area |  |
|
