Madison Square - Vintage Images

Madison Square is formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in Manhattan, named for the fourth President of the United States, James Madison, in 1814. The Madison Square Park is located between Fifth & Madison Avenues, between 23rd & 26th Streets.

The area has existed as a public space since 1686 and formally opened as a public park in 1847. Until the 1860s, it was an exclusive residential quarter. Later, a number of fashionable hotels opened near Madison Square along Fifth Avenue and Broadway.

Madison Square Park, circa 1901 (source: Detroit Publishing Company photograph collection, Library of Congress).

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