Addresses: Washington Square Park, 22-28 and 27-31 West Chestnut Street, 802-18, 827-929, 1012, 1023-29 and 1150-54 North Dearborn Street, and 60 W. Walton St. Year Built: Park laid out in 1842; buildings constructed 1872 - 1902 Architects: Various Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: May 16, 1990; extension July 10, 2002

Dating from 1842, when developer Orasmus Bushnell donated the land to the city, Washington Square is one of Chicago's oldest extant parks. The district includes the Newberry Library, the former Unity Church (now the Scottish Rite Cathedral), and a rare collection of elaborate masonry dwellings built for Chicago's elite during the City's post-Fire rebuilding period in the late 19th century. These buildings, the largest group of early post-Fire residences remaining in Chicago, were designed by some of the city's earliest, best architects, including Henry Ives Cobb, Edward Burling, Dankmar Adler, Treat & Folst, Frederick and Edward Baumann, Adolph Cudell, and William Le Baron Jenney. The park later became popularly known as "Bughouse Square," when it became a public forum for soapbox orators.

Pre-Fire Chicago Churches & Synagogues Districts Mansions Parks
1.	Park, Circa 1909
2.	Waller House (now Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Arts), 1012 N. Dearborn St., photo by Terry Tatum, 2001
3.	Bay Detail, 915 N. Dearborn, photo by Bob Thall
4.	Scottich Rite Cathedral, 929 N. Dearborn, photo by Robert Begolka, 1986
5.	Streetscape, 800-block N. Dearborn St., photo by Terry Tatum, 2001