Giovanni da Verrazzano, the explorer observed "Sapohannikan" - a central gathering and farming area by the Lenape, meaning "Land of Tobacco Growth." It served as a meeting place for different Lenape groups, including Munsee and Unami speakers, who played music, traded, and held games.&nbsp;

The site later became part of Manhattan’s first free Black settlement before evolving into a potter’s field and eventually a military parade ground.&nbsp;

By the 19th century, it transformed into a public park, surrounded by elegant residences.

 A marsh. A cemetery. A parade ground. A gathering spot for avant-garde artists. A battleground for chess enthusiasts. A playground for canines and children. Washington Square Park has served various roles for its community throughout the years, adapting to meet its needs. Well-known for its arch, honoring George Washington, the man for whom the park is named, and its fountain, the arch's elder by 43 years and a popular meeting spot, Washington Square Park also houses several other monuments and facilities. 

The vertical line shows the path that would become known as Bowery Road, but was originally the same up island trail that was incorporated into Broadway. The path westward to the Hudson River became known as Sand Hill Road until it crossed Minetta Creek, and still exists past that point as Greenwich Avenue. Stokes thinks the 1644 cattle fence followed this path from Bowery to Minetta Creek. These paths connected Lenape villages, farms and hunting and fishing grounds. From Indian paths in the great metropolis by Reginald Pelham Bolton, published by the New York Museum of the American Indian and Heye Foundation.

In Manhatta, the area that would become the Manhattan Borough of New York City, the Lenape lived in multi-family dwellings, in contrast to the smaller-sized wigwams of the Philadelphia region. This engraving from the late 19th century purports to describe a scene from 16th century Manhatta.

including removing trees and breaking up the ground to prepare the soil for cultivation.Source: The Lenapes by R. S. Grumet and F. W. Porter, 1989, New York, Chelsea House.