{"nrhp_refnum":"91000566","name":"Washington Square","other_names":["Bughouse Square","Park #1244"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"901 N. Clark St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.89960710050005,"lon":-87.63061220003831,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-05-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Washington Square is a three-acre public park on Chicago's near north side, bounded by Delaware Place, Clark Street, Walton Street and Dearborn Street, just south of the Newberry Library. It was donated to the city in 1842 and is known as Bughouse Square.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the oldest documented surviving park in Chicago and a representative example of how early parks were created through donations by land speculators. It has also served as a major public gathering place, from 1850s political demonstrations to the soap box free-speech forum of the 1910s onward.","narrative":"Washington Square is a three-acre park on Chicago's near north side, set among residential streets just south of the Newberry Library. Land speculators James Fitch, Orasmua Bushnell and Charles Butler of the American Land Company donated it to the city in 1842 to help their real estate venture succeed, a method by which many of Chicago's earliest parks began. Limestone coping and diagonal walks were added in 1869, and a fountain and benches followed. The park became a stage for public expression, from the 1855 Lager Beer Riot to the soap box orators of the 1910s and later, when it earned the nickname Bughouse Square. Speakers such as Clarence Darrow, Carl Sandburg and Emma Goldman were among those heard there. Changes in the 1970s removed the fountain and comfort station, but the coping, walks, tree canopy and plaza proportions remain. Debates are still held in the park each year. It was listed for its social history, with a period of significance of 1842 to 1940.","period_of_significance":"1842-1940","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Altered in the 1970s, when the comfort station was removed and the central plaza and fountain were replaced; still used for public debates, with restoration of the central plaza under consideration.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.610736-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/52/8910/28891052/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/91000566.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"03000786","name":"Washington Square Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/washington-square-historic-district-03000786/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891052","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/washington-square-91000566/"}