A Gilded Age Tour Up the Island of Manhattan
The Bowery Boys: New York City History
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The History of Washington Square Park
With the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, New York City underwent massive population and economic growth. The city took a piece of land that they'd been using since the 1790s as a pottersfield to bury victims of yellow fever or plagues. That former pottersfield turn parade ground is what's now Washington Square. With that area drained and turned into a developable neighborhood residential space, the area was next on the chopping block for development.
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