THE NINE SQUARES

In April 1638, the Reverend John Davenport and Theophilus Eaton, an English merchant, led a group of 500 Puritans from England by way of Massachussetts, to found a settlement on the shores of Long Island Sound on land they purchased from the Quinnipiacs. The location for the theological community was chosen for its excellent port capabilities. Among the 500 was the planner John Brockett who laid out a plan for New Haven:
‘A perfect square set between two creeks was divided into nine smaller squares. Eight of these were subdivided into house lots, while the central square served at once as marketplace, training field, water source, and sit for the meeting house.’

This plan is generally recognized as the first colonial American city to plan for land use development. The so-called “Nine-Square Plan” is an early example of grid patterns later used in Philadelphia (1682), Detroit (1700), New Orleans (1718), and Savannah (1733). It is recognized by the American Institute of Certified Planners as a National Historic Planning Landmark.

The central common block is the New Haven Green, a 16-acre (6 ha) square, now a National Historic Landmark and the center of Downtown New Haven.

Pictured above, clockwise around the Green: the Beinecke Library; the Yale Graduate Club & Yale Visitor Center; Audubon Street condos; the Courthouse, City Hall and surrounding highrises; mixed-use buildings on Orange Street at Crown; parking garage at Temple Street Plaza with art installation by Felice Varini; the Yale Center for British Art; Yale University Residences.

What was originally conceived as 9 large blocks is now 9 fairly distinct areas, each divided into streets. The city’s Business District as well as Districts for Theater, Museums, Yale University, the Arts, Retail and Restaurants, intermingle with the mixed-use buildings that are the fabric of the city center.

WALKING TOURS OF NEW HAVEN AND YALE UNIVERSITY

Take a walking tour of New Haven, sponsored by the The Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce (GNHCC) Leadership Center. There are 5 self-guided walking tours available: the Theater & Museum District Tour, the Beinecke Area Tour, the Audubon Street Tour, the Tour Around the Green and the Historical Ghost Tour. Click here for more information.

Visitors of Yale University can download an audio-guided walking tour of the Yale campus and listen on their own MP3 players. The tour begins at the Yale Visitor Center, 149 Elm Street, and includes 32 additional stops. More information here.

If you would like a live human being to guide you, tours of the Yale campus are available 5 times a week, from the Visitor Center at 149 Elm Street. The tour covers the central campus area, and lasts about 1 hour 30 minutes. More information here.

“When you look at a city, it’s like reading the hopes, aspirations and pride of everyone who built it.”

-Hugh Newell Jacobsen