Washington Park stands as a touchstone of Newark history, culture, and community engagement. The park dates back to 1667, when the English Puritan settlers led by Robert Treat set aside the land as a commons and Newarkers referred to the space as “North Common” or “Upper Green.” The commons serves as a communal space where Newarkers grazed their sheep and marketed their goods. Then, in 1795, the town voted unanimously to turn the commons into a park, a space for recreation and reflection, and named it after George Washington, hero of the American Revolution and the first President of the United States. Over the next two centuries, cultural and civic institutions began to spring up around the edges of the park: the Newark Museum of Art, the Newark Public Library, the Ballantine Mansion and Rutgers University School of Law. Because of the area’s importance to Newark History, the park and its surrounding neighborhood were designated the Historic James St. Commons in 1978 and added to the National Register of Historical Places, becoming Newark’s first historically designated neighborhood.