One of New York City’s oldest squares, Abingdon Square in Manhattan, was enclosed as a public park in 1831 by order of the Common Council. In 1836, the City bought the parcel and erected a cast-iron fence around it.
Abingdon Square is a small triangular plaza of well-planted trees, flowers in flower beds and other greenery when in season at the intersection of 8th Avenue and Hudson Street. It has park benches as well as small pathways. Look out for tulips at Abingdon Square in the springtime.
With its location between the Meat Packing District and the West Village, it is a convenient spot to enjoy a meal outdoors.
How did the name Abingdon Square Come About?
Sir Peter Warren, a vice admiral in the British Navy, bought a 300-acre farm in the region that was then known as Greenwich in 1744.
Warren and his wife, Susannah De Lancey, resided in a manor house in the region now bounded by West 4th, Bleecker, Charles, and Perry Streets.
Eventually, Charlotte Warren, the eldest child of Peter Warren and Susan Delancey, wed Willoughby Bertie, the Fourth Earl of Abingdon.
The land that is now known as Abingdon Square was part of Charlotte’s dowry.
Interestingly, Abingdon Square is one of the few municipal public spaces with a name that has a British connection that survived the Revolutionary War.
What’s at Abingdon Square?
The park at Abingdon Square was refreshed in 2004.
Exterior benches on the sidewalk were removed to make more room at the park.
A central oval lawn panel, flower beds, and lavish border plantings were added to the new park design, which was modelled after the Parsons and Vaux plan from the 1890s.
This change also meant that the park’s corners now became entryways for better accessibility into the park.
Winding paths and decorative iron lightpoles, entrance urns, and trash cans evoke Victorian New York for visitors to Abingdon Square.
Adrienne Shelly Memorial Garden
In 2009, the Adrienne Shelly Memorial Garden was unveiled at Abingdon Square.
The memorial garden was dedicated to the memory of the actress, writer, and director who was killed in her Manhattan office in 2006. The garden is located facing the structure where Ms. Shelly was killed on the southeast side of Abingdon Square Park.
Abingdon Doughboy
In honour of local men who served in World War I, Governor Alfred E. Smith dedicated the Abingdon Square Memorial, also known as the Abingdon Doughboy, in 1921. It originally faced northwards towards the Jefferson Democratic Club, that had sponsored the sculpture.
The inscription on the Abingdon Doughboy reads “erected by popular subscription in honor of the brave men who went forth from this neighborhood to join the Armed Forces of the United States during the World War.”
The work of Philip Martiny (1858–1927), it depicts a foot soldier in battle with a pistol in one hand, and the American flag in the other. It is one of two doughboy statues with the other one being at Chelsea Park.
The statue was eventually rotated and relocated to the south entrance of the park to improve its visibility and illumination. It remains a focal point of Abingdon Square.
Private Michael J. Lynch Post No. 831 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars dedicated the memorial flagstaff in 1933.
You may also be interested in the Abraham Lincoln Playground, ABC Playground or the Abe Lebewohl Park.
There is also another monument in Central Park that is dedicated to the men who who fought in World War I from the 107th Infantry.
