We all know of Greenwich Village as the place for the artists, the young people who love the coffee houses, but the history of what we know now as Greenwich Village goes back to the 16th century when it was a Native American Settlement. There was even a trout stream flowing through the area, providing the tribe with plenty of food.
The first European Settlers in Manhattan were the Dutch, who established their first town called New Amsterdam in what we now know as the Financial District, which is a logical place for them to settle as that is where the rivers meet the ocean. But they did not stay downtown for long. By 1630, they and the freed slaves that they had bought with them, had started to move north and began to clear land for farming in what is now Greenwich Village. This is Greenwich Village’s first transformation, from wilderness to farm land.
Of course, the Dutch lost their settlement to the British in 1664 and the name was changed to New York and this is when Greenwich Village transformed a second time from farm land to plush estates for the upper class British, like the high-ranking army offices. It was a few years later when Greenwich Village got its first name of its own, which was Grin’wich
The area stayed much the same until 1780. Downtown Manhattan was beginning to get very crowded and New York needed a Potters Field Cemetery, but there was no room in Downtown, so since Greenwich Village is just north of Downtown, they purchased 8 acres of land just north of the City, in the area we now know as Washington Square Park. And this was the beginning of the third transformation of Greenwich Village from estates to a village. There is one event in history that sped up the development and that was the long series of yellow fever and cholera epidemics that struck the city between 1799 and 1821. The city was in a panic, thousands were dying and the ones who had not been struck down had one thought in their minds and that was to get out of the crowded downtown area and get north, which at that time was Grin’wich, where there were green pastures and clean air.
They had every intention of going back when the diseases were gone, but as they settled in, they changed their minds. Why go back to the crowds where they could create their own village. And build they did. Banks, stores, row houses. They diverted the old trout stream, leveled the hills, cut down the forests and the land was transformed forever.
New York University was established in the area in 1836 and it began to be a center for learning with the establishment of art galleries, literary societies and theaters.
At the end of the 19th century, another transformation took place. There were many industries in the area such as coal and lumber yards and breweries that made it a place for the newly arrived immigrants from Ireland, Germany and Italy. The rich and famous, who had built their grand houses around the original settlement, moved further north and the houses were turned into apartments for the new comers.
By the time WW I started in 1917, the area was known as a place for the artist and writers to come for the low rents and the quite streets. There were the art galleries and theaters, making it a real mecca for the arts of the time. Of course, things were to change again and another transformation was to take place. And that change was bought about by Prohibition. Here were all these great buildings and the city was crying out for speakeasies. The speakeasies attracted the rich fold from the north, they bought up property cheap and turned the row houses back to their former glory. They do say history always repeats itself. The descendants of the rich who moved north all those years ago, came back. Everything went fine until 1929 and the stock market crash. All the rich folk were not rich anymore.
By the 1950’s Greenwich Village began to take on the look we know it by. It was the home of the beatnik generation and many of the coffee houses and restaurants are still there.
If you go to Greenwich Village today, you will find quaint shops, art galleries, many great restaurants and night clubs. It is one of the best places for night life in New York City. When you take a walk through Washington Square Park, remember the people who were buried there centuries ago. Take a look at the row houses still standing from the 19th century and try to appreciate all who have been here over the past 300+ years, each of who helped make the history of Greenwich Village what it is today.
