View source for Washington Square (Philadelphia)

{{about|the park in Philadelphia|the neighborhood|Washington Square West, Philadelphia}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name        = Washington Square
| nrhp_type   =
| image       = Washington Square 2018.jpg
| caption     = Washington Square in 2018
| image_size  = 325px
| location    = between [[Walnut Street (Philadelphia)|Walnut]] and 6th Sts., West and South Washington Square<br />[[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]
| coordinates = {{coord|39|56|48.68|N|75|9|9.51|W|display=title}}
| locmapin    = Philadelphia#Pennsylvania#USA
| area        = {{convert|6.4|acres|ha}}
| built       = 1683
| architect   = [[Thomas Holme]]<br />G. Edwin Brumbaugh
| added       = September 14, 1981
| mpsub       = Four Public Squares of Philadelphia TR
| refnum      = 81000558<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>
}}

'''Washington Square''', originally designated in 1682 as '''Southeast Square''', is a {{convert|6.4|acre|ha}} open-space [[park]] in [[Center City, Philadelphia|Center City]], [[Philadelphia]], The southeast quadrant and one of the five original planned [[city square|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]].

==History==
[[File:WashingtonGray, WashingtonSquarePhiladelphiaByJohnWilson crop.jpg|thumb|left|[[Washington Grays Monument]] at Washington Square (location from 1908 to 1954)]]
[[File:Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier-27527.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier]]]]
By the early 18th century the square started being used as a burial ground.<ref name="tour">[http://www.ushistory.org/tour/washington-square.htm UShistory.org page on Washington Square]</ref> Originally divided into triangles by two creeks, the northwestern portion was the [[potter's field]], and the southeastern section was for the burial of Catholics.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kirlin |first=Joseph L. J. |author-link= |date=1909 |title=Catholicity in Philadelphia From the Earliest Missionaries Down to the Present Time |url=https://archive.org/details/catholicityinphi00kirl |location=Philadelphia |publisher=John Jos. McVey |pages=87–88}}</ref> The joining of the creeks created a fishing pond, and the grounds were commonly used for grazing by neighbors' cows.

In 1776, it became the final resting place for [[George Washington|Washington]]'s fallen soldiers. Long mass grave trenches the width of the square were first dug along 7th and Walnut Streets, and were eventually expanded to the South side. And during the British occupation of Philadelphia in 1777, the dead from the neighboring [[Walnut Street Prison|Walnut Street Jail]] were also interred here. Many victims of the [[1793 Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic|city's yellow fever epidemic of 1793]] were interred here, and the square was also used for cattle markets and camp meetings.

The square was closed as a cemetery, and 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.

The periphery of Washington Square included an area called Lawyer's Row at 6th and Walnut, on the site of the former Walnut Street Prison. Around 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 (magazine)|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.<ref name="tour" />

== American Civil War ==
Initially, the square contained monuments to those who had fought in the [[American Civil War]]. One such monument was the [[Washington Grays Monument]]. In 1954, the decision was made to remove the civil war commemorations and focus the square solely on the memory of the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://ruins.wordpress.com/2010/08/16/landscapes-of-recaptured-monuments-the-washington-grays-monument-pedestal/ |title = Landscapes of ‘recaptured’ monuments: the Washington Grays Monument pedestal – The Necessity for Ruins}}</ref>

==Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier==
{{Main|Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier}}
In 1954, the Washington Square Planning Committee decided that, instead of the original proposed monument to Washington, a monument to all soldiers and sailors of the Revolutionary War would be built.<ref name=ushistory>[http://www.ushistory.org/tour/tomb-of-the-unknown-soldier.htm "Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary Soldier"] on USHistory.org</ref>  The monument, designated the "Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier", was designed by architect G. Edwin Brumbaugh and includes a bronze cast of [[Jean Antoine Houdon|Houdon's]] statue of [[George Washington (Houdon)|Washington]] as the monument's  centerpiece. The Tomb includes remains which were disinterred, after archeological examination, from within the park from when it was a cemetery. The remains are that of a soldier, but it is uncertain if he was Colonial or British.<ref name=ushistory /> An unknown number of bodies remain buried beneath the square and the surrounding area; some are still occasionally found during construction and maintenance projects.

==Moon Tree==

[[File:Bicentennial moon tree.jpg|130px|thumb|The "Moon Tree" in 2008]]
A [[sycamore]] [[Moon tree]] in the square, planted in 1975, was grown from seeds that had been carried to the Moon by astronaut [[Stuart Roosa]] on the [[Apollo 14]] mission.<ref>[http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/moon_trees/philadelphia_tree.html NASA article on Bicentenntial Moon Tree]</ref> The Moon tree died in 2009 and was replaced with a clone in 2011, which had also died as of November 2019, leaving the plaque about the Moon tree in place.<ref>[https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/philadelphias-moon-tree Atlas Obscura]</ref>

==In popular culture==
The [[pop-punk]] group [[The Wonder Years (band)|The Wonder Years]] wrote about Washington Square in their song "Washington Square Park", from their album ''[[The Upsides]]''.{{clear left}}

==See also==
*{{Portal-inline|Philadelphia}}
*[[Independence National Historical Park]]
*[[The St. James]]
*[[List of parks in Philadelphia]]

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://www.nps.gov/inde/learn/historyculture/places-washingtonsquare.htm Washington Square] - Independence National Park, National Park Service
*[http://www.phila.gov/ParksandRecreation/history/departmenthistory/parksystemhistory/Pages/FairmountParkOrigins.aspx Philadelphia.gov website]
*{{HABS |survey=PA-1489 |id=pa1344 |title=Washington Square Area Study, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA |photos=9 |cap=1}}

{{Philadelphia parks}}
{{Society Hill}}
{{Center City, Philadelphia}}
{{Philadelphia}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Independence National Historical Park]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Parks in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Society Hill, Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Walnut Street (Philadelphia)]]
[[Category:Washington Square West, Philadelphia]]