1930s Map of the Yale University, New Haven Green, Connecticut

This is a charming 1930s map of Yale University and the New Haven Green in New Haven, Connecticut. It covers the privately owned park, part of the designated National Historic Landmark District bordered by College Street, Church Street, Chapel Street and Elm Street. The map depicts the plan designed by John Brockett, one of the original Puritan colonists in New Haven. Temple Street, which opened in 1784, runs along the center of the square, divided into the upper and lower sections.

The map is centered on Center Church (the First Church of Christ), with Trinity Church to the left and United Church to the right. The famous burial grounds, closed in 1821, still contain the remains of many buried here, including Benedict Arnold’s first wife, President Rutherford’s family and Reverend James Pierpont, a founder of Yale College.

Over the years, the New Haven Green was used for various purposes. Originally known as the ‘marketplace’, it was the town common when it was built in 1638. It was also used as the parade grounds for the New Haven militia during the American Revolution. Some of the buildings (shown here in profile) include the First Methodist Church, three Statehouses (built when New Haven was one of the Capitals of Connecticut, along with Hartford), schoolhouses, churches, meeting-houses, a watch house, grammar school, and other historical monuments. The Bennet Memorial Fountain and the World War I Soldiers’ Memorial are also identified.

The streets surrounding the green mention the historical sites and monuments located across every street. These include the Old Campus of Yale University, Public Library, Post Office, the Federal Building, City Hall etc. Overall a beautiful depiction of the New Haven Green.