Harriet Tubman Square is a city square formerly known as Washington Park in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

. It is the northernmost of the three downtown parks, along with

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...

and Military Park, that were laid out in the colonial era. The triangular park is bounded by Broad Street, Washington Street, and Washington Place at the end of Halsey Street. It is home to several public statues and is surrounded by historic civic and commercial buildings. In a ceremony on

Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining "June" and "nineteenth", it is celebrated on the anniversary of General Order No. 3, i ...

2022, the city re-named the park in honor of

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 slaves, including family and friends, u ...

District

Originally known as the North Common or the Upper Green, the park is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

to the James Street Commons Historic District and is surrounded by notable landmarks. It forms the northern end of the city's central business district. The North Reformed Church was built in 1857-59 without the use of ore, iron, or steel. The Ballantine House, a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

, was built by the brewer of Ballantine beer, John Ballantine, in 1885. It is part of the

Newark Museum The Newark Museum of Art (formerly known as the Newark Museum), in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, is the state's largest museum. It holds major collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, A ...

. The main Newark Public Library was built in 1903. Residential brownstones are found along James Street. Among the office buildings located in the district are the American Insurance Company Building,

One Washington Park One Washington Park is a high rise office building located on Harriet Tubman Square at 1 Washington Street in Newark, New Jersey. Among the tallest buildings in the city, it is best known as the home of Rutgers Business School, Amazon's Audibl ...

, IDT Corporation, 550 Broad Street, 33 Washington Street, and the Cablevision Call Center. Several facilities of Rutgers-Newark and the headquarters of Audible are on the park.

Statues

Several statues and tablets are in the park. *'' Indian and the Puritan'' (1916), is one of four public works by Mount Rushmore sculptor

Gutzon Borglum John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum (March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941) was an American sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Mountain in Georg ...

in Newark, which also include '' Seated Lincoln'' (1911), ''

Wars of America ''Wars of America'' is a "colossal" bronze sculpture by Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his assistant Luigi Del Bianco containing "forty-two humans and two horses", located in Military Park, Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United ...

'' (1926), and a

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek language, Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ...

with bas-relief, '' First Landing Party of the Founders of Newark'' (1916). *A J. Massey Rhind work of the park's namesake, ''George Washington'' (1912), depicts the general taking leave from his troops at Rockingham. *A statue of Christopher Columbus, which was made in Rome by Giuseppe Ciochetti and presented to the city by Newark's Italians in 1927. It was removed (with pedestal left in place) in June 2020. *A work by

Karl Gerhardt Karl Gerhardt was a United States sculptor, best known for his death mask of President Ulysses S. Grant and a portrait bust of Mark Twain. Biography Karl Gerhardt was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 7, 1853. He attended Phillip ...

of Seth Boyden, who was one of Newark's leading citizens, captain of industry in the 19th century, an inventor of patent leather and innovation for train locomotives.

Wednesdays at Washington Park

Since 2009 a weekly green market and outdoor concert is held at the park from June to October.

Transportation

The Newark Light Rail Washington Park station lies along the Broad Street side of the park. Riverfront Stadium station is a block away. The Newark Broad Street Station, served by New Jersey Transit (NJT), is two blocks north. Numerous

buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for char ...

serve Newark and environs, including

Newark Liberty International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport , originally Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark in Essex County and Elizabeth in Union Cou ...

References

{{Newark Neighborhoods Parks in Essex County, New Jersey Squares in Newark, New Jersey Tourist attractions in Newark, New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Newark, New Jersey Historic district contributing properties in Newark, New Jersey Neighborhoods in Newark, New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Memorials to Harriet Tubman

District

Statues

Wednesdays at Washington Park

Transportation

See also

References