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| Postcard of Bowling Green |
Bowling Green is a cute little teardrop shaped park at the beginning of Broadway and is the oldest park in New York City. It was laid out by the Dutch in front of
Fort Amsterdam. It first served as a cattle market and parade ground. In 1686, it became public property under the City Charter.
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| The Overthrow of King George |
In 1733, the city leased the land to three landlords for a peppercorn a year on the promise that they would improve the land. The landlords built a park that had trees, benches, paths and yes, a bowling green. In 1770, a gilded lead statue of King George III on a horse was installed in the center of the park to celebrate the overturning of
The Stamp Act. However, tensions ran high and they had to build a fence around the park to stop graffiti and vandalism to the park. The fence is still there. On July 9, 1776, after the public reading of the Declaration of Independence; the statue was torn down and the lead was sent to foundries in Connecticut to be melted down and turned into bullets for the Patriots muskets.
After the Revolutionary War, the fort was torn down and the area became a fashionable residential area with mansions and townhouses. This area remain residential until the 1850's when the wealthy started to move uptown to areas such as Washington Square Park. The area then turned completely commercial by 1900.
The current layout of the park is from the late 1970s.
Here are a couple of pics I took of the park in spring. The fountain was surrounded with a red ring of tulips.
Main links for this post
http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/bowlinggreen/history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Green_(New_York_City)
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