George Washington Statue — Attraction in New York

This impressive bronze equestrian portrait of George Washington (1732-1799), the first president of the United States, is the oldest sculpture in the New York City Parks collection. It was modeled by Henry Kirke Brown and dedicated in 1856.

It depicts Evacuation Day, November 25, 1783, when Washington reclaimed the city from the British. With outstretched hand, he signals to the troops in a gesture of benediction. The piece was cast at the Ames foundry in Chicopee, Massachusetts, one of the first foundries in the United States capable of such large-scale quality work.

In 1856, the Washington statue was installed on a simple granite base in a fenced enclosure in the middle of the street, at the southeast corner of the square. As part of the redesign and reconstruction of the park in 1929-30, the sculpture was moved from this traffic island (where it was prone to vehicular traffic and pollution) to its present location and placed centrally in the...

The main attraction of Union Square Park is the equestrian statue of George Washington that greats you as you enter the park from 14th Street. It commemorates Evacuation Day, the day that British troops left the island of Manhattan after the conclusion of the American Revolution. On November 25, 1783, the British departed and George Washington triumphantly led the Continental Army down through Manhattan to the Battery. Dedicated in 1856, this statue is the oldest sculpture in the New York City Parks collection. The statue originally stood in a traffic island in the middle of 14th Street until it was moved to its present...

The history of the statue, that it was from one of the first foundries capable of a piece of such size, scale and quality in the US and how the statue has been moved around within the park are probably little known. Residents, certainly, take it for granted. I’m glad the sign with its history is here. I stop by and read it every few years as I forget the statue’s history. Washington himself would probably be dismayed to see the homeless and addicted that often sleep below his horse’s feet during the warmer months. “What sort of society has ours become?” He...