Washington Square District and Extension - View this location on map 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. 60 W. Walton St., Chicago , IL Historical

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