20,000 people buried under Washington Square Park
Just a few weeks ago archaeologists found four skeletal remains during the ongoing renovation of Washington Square Park. Allegedly, there are over 20,000 people buried under the park, as it was once a burial ground for slaves and yellow fever victims between 1797 and 1826.
Legend has it that the area was once a site of public executions. The English Elm tree at the northeast corner of the square is known as Hangman’s Elm. It is reputably the oldest known tree in Manhattan (329 years) and is where traitors were hanged during the Revolutionary War. Marquis de Lafayette is reported to have witnessed a festive hanging of 20 highwaymen in 1824. Though no public records actually exist of the executions (although I came across a brief excerpt from an 1866 article from the New York Times describing the 1820 hanging of Rose Butler for arson), in 1992 the Parks Department removed the tree limb where the alleged hangings took place.
I guess after archeological inspection they’ll replace the bones so as not to disturb them and carry on with the (already controversial) renovations.
