Washington Square Park Documentary Resources

I enjoy spending time in libraries and archives. I've engaged with librarians, archivists, and material resources to complete a variety of projects. One example is the online tree map of Washington Square Park. The data in the map came from the NYC Parks' Map Archives in Queens. Another example is an essay I wrote about the Next Epoch Seed Library published by Urban Omnibus. I interviewed the founders Ellie Irons and Anne Percoco, and participating in in a couple of their workshops.

Today - and this post will be updated as new resources are discovered - I share documentary resources (excluding books) pertaining to Washington Square Park, including Minetta Brook. Please indicate omissions in the comments section.

Activism and Advocacy

• Help Preserve Washington Square petition and poster, 1945 [download here and here via Citizens Housing Planning Council]

Archaeological Assessments

• Washington Square Park Phase 1A Archaeological Assessment - Joan H. Geismar, PhD., LLC for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, August 2005 with July 2006 revisions
• Washington Square Park Phase 1 Construction/Archaeological Field Testing Report - Joan H. Geismar, PhD., LLC for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, March/September 2009
• Washington Square Park Phase 2 Construction/Archaeological Field Testing Report - Joan H. Geismar, PhD., LLC for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, July 2012
• Washington Square Park Phase 3 Construction/Archaeological Field Testing Report - Joan H. Geismar, PhD., LLC for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, November 2013

Design Projects 

• The Reconstruction of the Washington Square Arch and Adjacent Site Work - Joan H. Geismar, PhD., LLC for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, April 2004
• Washington Square Park - A User Analysis and Place Performance Evaluation - Project for Public Spaces for the Washington Square Park Council, December 1, 2005
• Water Main Connection at Washington Square Park - Department of Design and Construction First Quarter Newsletter 2017 [download via NYU Community Affairs]

General Information

• Washington Square Park - A Changing Landscape - George Vellonakis [possibly a version his presentation at the "Washington Square Park: Designs Over Time" panel on May 27, 2009 hosted by the Center for Architecture]

Historic Designation

• Area 3 - Washington Square - Greenwich Village Historic District Designation Report, Volume 1 1969 [download]

Nature

• Modeling the Minetta Brook - Steve Duncan, undated 
• Map It! Lots Shaped by Minetta Brook - Village Preservation blog post, Sep 26, 2012
• Washington Square Park State of the Nature Report 2016 - Washington Square Park Eco Projects [narrative report of the wildlife survey conducted by Eco Projects in 2016 published in The Villager on May 18, 2017. A formal report was filed with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation.]