i6o 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
‘ Grea.i, ” of about sixteeu acres in area, which was set 
apart as a “ Market place ” at the first settlement of 
New Haven in 1638. It was than the central square of 
the nine which constituted the original town plot; and 
being dedicated “ to public uses ” as the term was then 
understood the public buildings of the town for several 
generations were located upon it, including “ the meet- 
ing-house, ” the school house and the jail, with its 
accompaniments, the pillory and whipping post, and in 
addition to these conveniences, it served for more than 
one hundred and fifty years as the common burying 
ground. All these relics of the past have now disap- 
peared except the three churches still standing upon it 
and which were erected between 1812 and 1815. From 
its position and the nature of its uses “ the green ” has 
been for more than two hundred and fifty years the 
center of New Haven’s political, civic and religious 
life. Until 1784 it was unsightly and uninclosed and 
disfigured by weeds, bushes and promiscuous cart tracks, 
but in that year numerous elm trees were planted in it 
by Mr. James Hillhouse, and in the course of fifteen 
years thereafter other improvements were made and the 
whole square enclosed and graded through the efforts 
of Mr. Hillhouse and other public spirited citizens 
After the year 1800 burials on the green were discon- 
tinued and in 1821 all the tomb stones upon it were re- 
moved to the Grove Street Cemetery, except such as 
were beneath the Center Church and also excepting 
four others in the rear of the church which are still to 
be seen there. 
Of these four stones not removed, the one which is 
enclosed in a railing with a modern monument and 
marked “I. U. Esqr.” is the original memorial of John 
Dixwell, one of the members of the Court which con- 
demned Charles I to death in 1654 and who died in 
New Haven under an assumed name in 1689. The other 
stones marked “ E. W. ” and “ M. G. ” were in 1821 
supposed to be the tomb stones of Whalley and Goffe, 
two others of “the Regicide Judges” who were concealed 
in New Haven in 1661 and who found refuge for a 
while in “ Judges’ Cave ” on AVest Rock, l.ater inves- 
tigations have shown that the supposed Whalley and 
Goffe stones were erected for other persons, but the 
Uixwell memorial is undoubtedly authentic. 
Besides “the green” there are within or adjoining 
the thickly settled portions of the city nine other public 
squares or breathing places. Ot these the principal 
ones are fiist, Wooster Square, of six acres in area, five 
blocks from the green and laid out with trees and walks 
in ihe same old fashioned manner; second and third, 
AVater Side Park and Quinnipiac Park, both of which 
are situated in factory districts and each of which when 
c jmpleted will contain about sixteen acres. Both of 
these are on the water front, planted with shade trees 
and provided with facilities for bathing and ball playing. 
Fourth. Bay View Park, which is another sea side park 
in a first class residential district in the southern part 
of the city and on the edge of the harbor. It has an ex- 
cellent bathing beach, several hundred feet in length, 
skirted by a drive, and contains twenty-three acres of 
upland and lawn. It is well shaded and provided with 
seats and a small boating lake, and is a favorite resort 
for ladies and children. 
The five other urban parks are all within a mile and 
a half the of City Hall and wholly or partly surrounded 
by a rapidly growing population. They are first, Clin- 
ton Park, of about seven acres, facing a large inland 
bay in the northeastern part of the city. Second, Beaver 
Ponds Park, in the northwest section, embracing an un- 
developed tract of marsh and upland, through which 
flows a never failing stream of pure spring water, and 
which when completed will form a picturesque park of 
about one hundred acres. Third, Edgewood Park, in 
the western residential district, containing about one 
hundred and ten acres of wood land and meadow, which 
is intersected through its whole length by AVest River. 
This park like the Beaver Ponds tract has fine possibil- 
ities for future picturesque treatment. A considerable 
part of it has been already partially laid out under in- 
telligent supervision and improved with driveways, foot 
paths, flower beds and shrubbery so that it forms an im- 
portant attraction to that thriving part of the city. 
Fourth and fifth, Trowbridge Square and Jocelyn Square, 
each containing about two acres and each in the heart 
of a tenement population. Several other open places of 
somewhat smaller dimensions in different parts of the 
city, shaded with trees and provided with walks and 
benches, are not included in this enumeration. 
The outlying parks remain to be mentioned and of 
these there are four. The one nearest the center of the 
city is East Rock Park, about a mile and a half north- 
east of the City Hall. This contains three hundred and 
fifty acres and occupies a chain of four wooded heights, 
the principal one of which is East Rock, which shows a 
precipitous front three hundred and sixty-two feet in 
elevation overlooking the city. On its summit stands 
the Soldiers’ Monument, forming a landmark visible for 
many miles in all directions. This park is traversed by 
over seven miles of drives and as a mountain park has 
few superiors for the number and variety of its natural 
attractions. Its counterpart, AVest Rock Park, lies two 
and a half miles northwest of the City Hall, its front 
toward the city being marked by a bold cliff which rises 
adruptly four hundred and six feet above the stream at 
its foot. This park strictly speaking contains about two 
hundred acres but it adjoins a wooded mountain dis- 
trict of indefinite extent stretching northward, much of 
which belongs to the City of New Haven and of which 
at least two hundred acres are already practically apart 
of the park. This park has some three miles of drives 
within and around its borders and affords a fine variety 
of views, that from its summit being especially extensive 
and impressive. A prominent attraction of AVest Rock 
is the historic “ Judges’ Cave ” in which the Regicide 
Judges, Goffe and AVhalley, were concealed for a time 
from their pursuers in 1661. This circumstance is 
commemorated by a bronze tablet affixed to one of the 
rocks forming the cave by the Society of Colonial AVars. 
A third outlying park is at Beacon Hill, on the east 
side of New Haven harbor and about two miles from 
the City Hall. It embraces about seventeen acres and 
its pr'ncipal chaim is the superb view from the summit 
