Bowling Green Fence
New York, New York, New York
Marker Inscription
Bowling Green Fence. Erected by the Common Council in 1771, this fence surrounds New York's earliest part. The park was leased in 1733 for use as a bowling green at a rental of one peppercorn a year. Patriots, who in 1776 destroyed an equestrian statue of George III which stood here, are said to have removed the crowns which capped the fence posts, but the fence itself remains.
Erected by New York Community Trust
The Story
Erected by the Common Council in 1771, this iron fence surrounds Bowling Green, New York's oldest park, leased back in 1733 for use as a bowling lawn at a token rent of one peppercorn a year. In 1776, patriots toppled the nearby equestrian statue of King George III and, by tradition, sheared the royal crowns from the fence posts. The fence itself has survived for more than two centuries.
Why it matters
Few relics so directly connect New York to the Revolution: the fence witnessed the crowd that tore down a king's statue as the colonies declared their independence.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- National Museum of the American Indiannearby · 1 Bowling Green, New York, NY
- Fraunces Tavern Museum0.1 mi away · 54 Pearl Street, New York, NY
- Pilecki Institute0.2 mi away · 92 Greenwich Street, New York, NY
- Skyscraper Museum0.2 mi away · 39 Battery Place, New York, NY
- Museum of American Finance0.2 mi away
- MĒRCER LABS0.4 mi away · 21 Dey Street
Attractions
- The Genius of Communication0.1 mi away
- New York Stock Exchange0.2 mi away · 11 Wall Street
- Barthman's Sidewalk Clock0.4 mi away · Maiden Lane
- Saint Paul's Chapel0.5 mi away · 209 Broadway, New York, NY
- New York City Police Memorial0.5 mi away
- Wavertree0.5 mi away
Food & drink
- Bluestone Lane1.2 mi away
- Yaso1.3 mi away · 30 Hudson Street, Jersey City, NJ
- Maman1.3 mi away
- Krispy Pizza1.3 mi away · 33 Hudson Street, Jersey City, NJ
- Sweetgreen1.3 mi away
- Semicolon Cafe1.3 mi away
Places to stay
- The FiDi Hotelnearby · 11 Stone Street, New York
- DoubleTree by Hiltonnearby · 8 Stone Street, New York, NY
- Sonder at Battery Park0.1 mi away · 2 Washington Street, New York, NY
- Hampton0.1 mi away · 32 Pearl Street, New York, NY
- Hilton Garden Inn0.1 mi away · 6 Water Street, New York, NY
- Wall Street Inn0.2 mi away · 9 South William Street, New York, NY
Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · King George III
Related events
- · Destruction of the statue of George III, 1776
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Fraunces Tavern
New York, NY
On December 4, 1783, days after the last British troops left New York, George Washington gathered his officers in the Long Room of Fraunces Tavern to bid them an emotional farewell, the Revolutionary War won and his command soon to be surrendered. The tavern was kept by Samuel Fraunces, a man of West Indian origin who had long served the patriot cause. The scene — a victorious general voluntarily taking leave of his army — became one of the enduring images of the new nation.
George Washington
New York, NY
On April 30, 1789, George Washington stood on the balcony of Federal Hall in lower Manhattan and took the oath as the first President of the United States. New York City served as the nation's first capital, and this moment set the young republic's experiment in self-government into motion. The stone marked here commemorates the physical spot where that history began.
Soldiers' Monument
New York, NY
In June 1852, New York City's citizens gathered at City Hall and resolved that Trinity Church should raise a fitting monument to American patriots who perished in the struggle for independence — among them many who died as prisoners in British hands. The resulting Gothic memorial still stands in Trinity's churchyard near Wall Street. Its inscriptions turned a churchyard into a place of civic remembrance for the Revolution's forgotten dead.
City Arms Tavern & Veteran Corps of Artillery
New York, NY
On the site of the late-eighteenth-century City Arms Tavern, a group of patriotic citizens gathered on November 25, 1790 — Evacuation Day, marking the 1783 departure of the last British troops from New York. Veterans of the Continental Army's artillery corps met to plan for the young nation's defense and organized themselves into the Veteran Corps of Artillery of the State of New York. That military command has served continuously ever since.