 These plaques depict historical events in Union Square. Twenty two bronze panels inset into a block-long ellipse of bluestone pavers illustrate a timeline beginning with Native American history and leading to the late 1800's. 

Formerly a burial ground, it was laid out in 1815 as Union Place and opened as a park in 1839. Although Parks Engineer-in-Chief M.A. Kellogg and Acting Landscape Gardener E.A. Pollard created a new plan for the park in 1871, it was redesigned the following year by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. and Calvert Vaux.&amp;nbsp;  

The park was demolished in the late 1920s&amp;nbsp;to accommodate the 14th Street subway station, and the pavilion was reconstructed, the Independence Flagstaff by Anthony de Francisci (1930) dedicated at the park&amp;rsquo;s center, and park paths straightened.&amp;nbsp;In 1985&amp;nbsp;the Department of Parks created a new plaza at the park&amp;rsquo;s southern end and planted a central lawn.  

Broadway and 14th Street, during the late 19th century, has always been seen as &ldquo;New York&rsquo;s Most Dangerous Crossing&rdquo; (according to a Harpers Weekly article). But even in the new century, this morbid corner could never quite shake its reputation. &ldquo;McGowan and Keenan Narrowly Escape Death At &lsquo;Dead Man&rsquo;s Curve&rdquo; shouted an Evening World headline from February 15, 1906, reporting a serious accident here involving two major city officials, one (Patrick McGowan) the head of the Board of Alderman.Getting rid of the cable cars reduced &mdash; but did not eliminate &mdash; the problems posed by the heavily trafficked, sharp corner along New York&rsquo;s most famous avenue. Grim accidents kept occurring here, such as this one in September 1908: &lsquo;Legs Are Crushed&hellip;at Dead Man&rsquo;s Curve&rsquo;. One source posits an interesting theory: with the district to the west still considered Ladies Mile, New York&rsquo;s prime shopping district, male drivers (as they would have mostly been at this time) became distracted at this difficult corner by lively female shoppers.Fortunately, it seems reputation can be the wonderful deterrent. While other cities would develop their own deadly traffic curves &mdash; and apply the nickname &lsquo;dead man&rsquo;s curve&rsquo; to those unfortunate places &mdash; New York would see fewer accidents at Broadway and 14th Street in the following decades.

Union Square Timeline Medallion 22

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