Washington Square Park

Pretty nice park. I saw two homeless people make Love in this park from the 12^th story of an apartment building while I was on mushrooms. I learned a lot about myself that night. I learned how to accept things that might seem gross at first because in the end they can actually be beautiful.

Chicago’s oldest park, established 1842, this traditional city park square with leafy trees, a fountain surrounded by a garden and diagonal walkways and benches, was donated by real estate developers to insure their real estate venture’s success. From cow pasture, to site of the 1855 «Lager Beer Riot», to a park surrounded by mansions by 1869, to serving after the Great Chicago Fire from late 1871 into 1872 as a camp of barracks constructed to house homeless survivors of the Great Chicago Fire, by 1890s redone in high Victorian style, by 1906 redone by Jens Jensen with a new fountain donated by Colonel Robert R. McCormick, to its Bughouse Square era with its apogee in the 1920’s and 30’s, to the park’s restoration in the 1990’s, the park has continued to serve residents and visitors to Chicago. 173 years old September 4^th!

Love this place. The only reason I didn’t give five stars is because there are frequently homeless people loitering around. Other than that the park is a great little oasis in the middle of the city.

My cousin got married in this park and it was a nice little area, wasn’t too thrilled that there were homeless people sleeping around while we were having the ceremony but it was nice and simple. It’s tiny and sort of like a dog park with grass and a fountain in the middle but nothing extraordinary.

Nice little traditional city park centered on a fountain. Good place to bring that bag lunch and eat it on a bench. A little oasis in the city.

Awesome little park with a fountain in the center so you can enjoy some time sitting and just watching the world go by if you are so inclined.
One nice thing that stuck out to me is that the trees here (while not full grown) seem to be very well maintained. To me that is what makes the park is having a well maintained grounds.
Lots of people walk their dogs here so if you have any pet allergies or are not a dog person best to stay away haha

~Inadvertently Vert~
So, as it turns out, I am green after all. I do my best for the environment whenever I can, which is basically whenever I get a ring from a very important lady when out enjoying a few pints of pop.
The place where I’ve done most of my work for the environment is Washington Square Park. Let’s put it this way, if I were to do check-​ins — which I don’t and likely never will, but if I did — I’d likely be the Duke or the King of Washington Square Park as a result of all the times I’ve visited this park on behalf of the environment in connection with excursions to the Rush and Division area.
So, when this lovely park blooms a luscious green in the spring, don’t mention it. Just breathe in the clean air, sigh, take in the serenity and think about how magnanimous I am to the environment and community.
You’re welcome.

Every time I walk through this park I can’t help but feel as if it is special. This is unlike any park I have been to in Chicago. First it is small and has a fountain in the middle with benches surrounding and facing the fountain.
Here at the fountain you will find so many characters: Young in love high schoolers making out, older people hanging, nannies with kids, coworkers having a power meeting and my favorite Shoe Guy (if you’ve been here you will know what I mean because he is here every day).
So I started wondering what is the deal with this park… does the city own it? or some rich person who just likes parks? And I did some research… below is my research… it is going to feel a little like school but hey you are sitting here in the park you might as well know what the park is all about!!!
Washington Square, also known as Washington Square Park, is a registered national historic landmark (placed on list May 20, 1991) that is better known by its nickname Bughouse Square (derived from the slang of bughouse referring to mental health facilities), it was the most celebrated open air free-​speech center in the country as well as a popular Chicago tourist attraction. It is Chicago’s oldest existing small park.
On September 4, 1842, the city received a 3-​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. 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 alderman’s 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.
The original purpose of the neighborhood park was as a place of assembly to discuss community issues. 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.
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. 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 Dil Pickle Club,» devoted to free expression. For years Washington Square orators appointed their own honorary «king.» In its heyday in the 1920s and 1930s, revolutionary left soapboxers were occasionally joined by poets, religionists, and cranks. In 1959, the city transferred Washington Square to the Chicago Park District. In 1964, Life Magazine featured an article saying that it was a meeting place for cottaging among homosexuals. Six years later, it played host to Chicago’s first Gay Pride March!
Who would have thought that a beautiful 3 acre park could have been the center of everything? And knowing the history I now understand why I always felt so special as I walked through the diagonal paths here. There is always so much to see here… people playing ball with their dogs, people walking on tightropes and a group of 70 year old guys playing catch with baseball mitts from the 1920’s…my hand hurt every time they caught the ball with those oven mitts called gloves. My trek through Washington Square always reveals something new to me and it has become one of my favorite parks in the City of Chicago.

There were no dogs in the park today, but there was a crazy person, singing loudly. Too bad because we went partially for my kids to pet some dogs, owners willing, rather than hearing other park patrons yelling shut up.
Seems the ratio to crazy homeless looking folks to other park patrons was about one to one. Since the fountain was behind fencing and vegetation, it had a closed off feeling to it that limited our enjoyment of the brief time sitting on the bench.
There were some grassy and also shady areas for folks to chill so it wasn’t without appeal. We didn’t hang long since my wife wasn’t comfortable letting the kids run around given the patronage.
There is no playground in this oasis in the city, so better enjoyed without kids, me thinks.

Washington Square Park came ALIVE today during this bout of gorgeous weather!
There were dogs everywhere — big ones, little ones, playful ones, loud ones, curious ones exploring off the leash. The school day had just ended nearby, meaning a flurry of moms and nannies with strollers arrived, giving all the dogs some very convenient companions to play with. A group of boys started kicking around a soccer ball. Heck, some suit-​wearing businessmen even stopped by for a mid-​afternoon break.
Watching all of this while sitting on one of the many wooden benches here and sipping on an iced mocha was such a lovely little remind of why I adore Chicago.
Some background — this square-​shaped park is right in front of the old and beautiful Newberry Library, with a huge fountain smack-​dab in the middle (though seeing as it’s still winter, it’s not yet been turned on). Aside from the little sidewalk paths leading to the center and the benches, this park has trees and grass galore, making it a nice little oasis if you’re in the Gold Coast and want to take a refreshing break from shopping or work.
It is also a people watching gold mine. Once the weather turns consistently warm again, I will be spending many afternoons here lounging on the grass in a sundress and flipflops, reading an old book and watching the world go by.
I highly recommend you do the same. Enjoy!

While on vacation in Chicago, we were walking and walking and needed a break. On the map showed Washington Square Park, and it didn’t look far. So we went. Man, I’m so glad we did.
It’s not really big and the fountation wasn’t working but it was still nice. We sat on one of the benches. Listened to this old guys converse. Seeing dogs romp around. A kid and his nanny playing in the grass. With the petals from the flower trees blowing in the air. Amazing.

I adore this park. It’s a cool little piece of serenity not too far from busy Michigan ave and Rush street. I’ve come here through out the four seasons in the city and it’s beautiful. It’s small but serves as a nice escape from it all –and somehow, sitting in this park with cabs honking at each other down the street and police sirens going off, it still feels so peaceful. I’ve sat on one of the benches during the weekday, people and dog watching in the fall and sat here waiting for my bf in the winter so we can take a walk around the neighborhood together. See, this area can be likeable and neighborhoody. It’s not all whores and gold diggers ;-)

Washington Square Park is also known as Bughouse Square, and is one of the oldest parks in Chicago dating back to 1842.
It’s not the most exciting park out there, but it’s surrounded by the Newberry Library, old mansions, new condos and new townhomes, making it a good place to people watch on a warm day. There’s a small fountain in the center, and trees and lawn across the whole block. It’s a short walk from Oak Street, the Hancock Building, Rush Street and Michigan Avenue for when you’re overwhelmed by shopping.
It’s mostly quiet today — a good place to read a book, but it has quite a history. At the turn of the previous century it was commonly used as a public speaking forum, and has often played a role in free speech events. Few realize today that it was the starting point of Chicago’s first Gay Pride March in 1970.