Right: General area of East Village (in green) shows Stuyvesant family estate from the "Plan of New York, Survey of 1766-67," drawn by B. Ratzen.

Originally part of the largest salt-marsh on Manhattan Island, the area now occupied by Tompkins Square Park was once used as a Native American (Lenape tribe) hunting and fishing ground. When Peter Stuyvescant was forcibly removed as the last Dutch Governor of New Amsterdom in 1664, he retired to his 'bouwerij estate' which encompassed these wetlands, where he harvested the lush marsh grass for his cattle.

During the War of 1812, then Governor of New York, DanieI D. Tompkins, filled in and fortified the swamp to better defend against a possible British landing. Tompkins was the 5th vice-president of the U.S., serving with James Monroe, and became New York State governor in 1807. The park was later named in Tompkins' honor to commemorate his freeing of the slaves in New York state in 1827.

The l0.5-acre market square came into being as an official park in the mid-1840s after the Stuyvesant family (see above map) ceded the land to the enjoyment of the public. The design was originally inspired by Bloomsbury Park of London, which influenced many landscapes at that time. Over the decades the Park underwent numerous transformations. Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of Central Park, even had a hand in one early version of the park landscape. It also served as a military parade ground both during and for the decade immediately following the Civil War.

By the late 19th century the Park had become one of the city's most important focal points for marches and protests by union activists, immigrant lobbyists and civil rights demonstrators. This tradition of park as cultural center and community meeting house persisted throughout the 20th century. In August of 1988 The Tompkins Square Riot happened as a result of the City's repeated attempts to clear the park of homeless people and empty nearby buildings of squatters. Groups of protesters and self-proclaimed anarchists fought running battles with the police over the right of the homeless and other marginalized groups to use the park as a shelter. The Park was closed to the public in l991, completely renovated, and reopened in August of 1992. Tompkins Square Park continues to be a symbol and locus of progressive protest and advocacy in suport of the poor and disenfranchised.

Today the park is enjoyed daily by a large and diverse community of residents, visitors and tourists. The continually shifting ancient marshland on which the park was originally built reflects the type of life valued by the community -- a life in which sensitivity to change is paramount.

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