Bryant Park
New York City
2011

Bryant Park is one of the world’s busiest public spaces. More than 12 million people per year visit the park and enjoy lush gardens featuring seasonal displays, free daily amenities, cultural programming, exercise classes, and much more!


From potter's field to reservoir to one of the world's busiest public spaces, Bryant Park has a rich and storied history. Enjoy a brief timeline of the park, from origin to modern days, below.

https://bryantpark.org/the-park/history

Potter's Field
In 1686, the area now known as Bryant Park was designated public property by New York Colonial Governor Thomas Dongan. After being routed by the British in the Battle of Long Island, at the start of the Revolutionary War, General Washington’s troops raced across the site. In 1807, the grid system of streets was laid out in what is now considered midtown, expanding north from the already cosmopolitan downtown Manhattan. Fifteen years later, in 1822, the land came under the jurisdiction of New York City, and one year later, was turned into a potter’s field. The city decommissioned the potter’s field in 1840, in preparation for construction of the Croton Reservoir on the adjacent plot of land (now the Central branch of the New York Public Library).

The Civil War Years
During the Civil War, Reservoir Square was used as an encampment for Union Army troops. Shortly after, in March of 1863, the Union government issued the first draft notices in American history, setting off a series of riots throughout the city. One of the most horrendous acts of the riots was the July 1863 burning of the Colored Orphan Asylum on Fifth Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets. Throughout the late nineteenth century, many uses were suggested for the reservoir site and also the square, including a rejected petition to use the space for an armory.

Bryant Park is Born
In 1884, Reservoir Square was renamed Bryant Park, to honor recently deceased Romantic poet, longtime editor of the New York Evening Post, and civic reformer, William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878). Around this time, the city approved designs for the New York Public Library, submitted by architects John Merven Carrére and Thomas Hastings. The Beaux-Arts building was completed in 1911, with a raised terrace at the rear of the library and two comfort stations at the east end of Bryant Park.