Madison Square

 

Madison Square Park is bounded by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway on the west, 23rd Street on the south, Madison Avenue on the east and 26th Street on the north. It was named after the fourth President of the United States, James Madison, in 1814.

The area was designated a public land in 1686. Later, it was used as a potter's field and parade ground. In 1825, the old arsenal became home of the House of Refuge. It formally opened as a public park in 1847. Madison Avenue was constructed in 1836.

In 1856, the Madison Square Post Office opened at the St. Germain Hotel. In 1857, the Worth Monument was dedicated.

Until the 1850s, it was a residential quarter. Later, a number of fashionable hotels opened near Madison Square along Fifth Avenue and Broadway. The Kurtz Art Gallery opened in 1873 at 6 East 23rd Street. At the time, the neighborhood was one of the most vibrant in the City, home to major hotels, theaters, offices and stores. The Madison Square Garden was located here until 1925.

The iconic Flatiron Building was erected on the junction on Broadway and Fifth Avenue, at 23rd Street, between 1901 and 1902. Later, other skyscrapers were built around the square. The 48-story Metropolitan Life Insurance Tower was completed in 1909, on Madison Avenue, at East 24th Street. It was the world's tallest building until 1913, when it was surpassed by the Woolworth Building, on Broadway. 

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, a few temporary ceremonial arches were erected in the junction of Broadway and Fifth Avenue. In 1889, to celebrate the centennial of George Washington's first inauguration. In 1899, the Dewey Arch was built for the parade in honor of Admiral George Dewey, celebrating his victory in the Battle of Manila Bay in the Philippines the year before. In 1918 Mayor John F. Hylan had a Victory Arch built at about the same location to honor the city's war dead.

The park fell into decline about the 1980s, but  the park was restored about the 2000s. Today, Madison Square Park is a playground, an open-air museum, a performance venue and an arboretum surrounded by skyscrapers and landmark architecture

More: Madison Square in the 19th century

More: Madison Avenue at Madison Square

 

 

Old City of New York

 

 

 

 

Madison Square New York

 

 

Copyright © Geographic Guide - Antique images of NYC. Historic Places.

 

 

Madison Square Park and fountain in 2013 (credit: Marley White / NYC & Company).

 

Madison Square Hotel

 

Flatiron images

 

Hotels Broadway

 

202 Fifth Avenue

 

Madison Square West

 

 

Madison Avenue

 

Madison Square NY

 

23rd Street NYC

 

Madison Avenue

 

Madison Square Park, 1901 (source: Library of Congress).

 

Fifth Avenue NY

 

NYC Madison Square

 

5th Avenue NY

 

National Academy of Design

 

 

Albemarle Hotel

 

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Building

 

 

Central Park images

 

Madison Square

 

 

Worth Square

 

Broadway 5th Avenue

 

Madison Square Park

 

Old Madison Square

 

Broadway Fifth Avenue

 

Madison Square Park

 

Madison Square NY

Madison Square - 1911.

 

Fountain NY

 

Naval Arch

 

Parade 1919

 

Buildings NY

 

Madison Avenue NYC

 

Flatiron District

 

20th Century NY

 

Parkhurst's Church

 

New York City

 

Worth Monument

 

Midtown Manhattan NYC

 

Hippodrome

 

Hoffman House

 

 

 

Metropolitan Life Insurance Tower

 

Madison Avenue Building

 

 

Prospect Park images

 

NoMad NYC

 

Dewey Arch

 

Madison Square Bank

 

Bowling Green images

 

 

Rockefeller Center

 

Election NY

 

21st century

 

Statue of Liberty Torch

 

 

Madison Square Presbyterian Church

 

Election 1888

 

Madison Square Garden

 

Carriages NY

 

Old City New York

 

Fifth Avenue Hotel

 

 

The Battery images