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Washington Square Park (Chicago)

1842 establishments in IllinoisChicago LandmarksHistoric districts in ChicagoHistoric districts on the National Register of Historic Places in IllinoisNRHP infobox with nocat
Parks in ChicagoParks on the National Register of Historic Places in ChicagoUse mdy dates from August 2016
Washington Square Park & Newberry Library
Washington Square Park & Newberry Library

Washington Square, also known as Washington Square Park, is a park in Chicago, Illinois. A registered historic landmark that is better known by its nickname Bughouse Square (derived from the slang of bughouse referring to mental health facilities), it was the most celebrated open air free-speech center in the country as well as a popular Chicago tourist attraction. It is located across Walton Street from Newberry Library at 901 N. Clark Street in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is Chicago's oldest existing small park. It is one of four Chicago Park District parks named after persons surnamed Washington (the others being Washington Park, Harold Washington Park, and Dinah Washington Park). It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 20, 1991.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Washington Square Park (Chicago) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Washington Square Park (Chicago)
West Walton Street, Chicago Near North Side

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 41.899166666667 ° E -87.630555555556 °
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Address

McCormick Fountain

West Walton Street
60610 Chicago, Near North Side
Illinois, United States
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Washington Square Park & Newberry Library
Washington Square Park & Newberry Library
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Gate of Horn

The Gate of Horn was a 100-seat folk music club, located in the basement of the Rice Hotel at 755 N. Dearborn St. at the corner of Chicago Avenue, on the near north side of Chicago, Illinois, in the 1950s and 1960s. It was opened by journalist Les Brown and Albert Grossman in 1956 and was where Odetta, Bob Gibson, Roger McGuinn and others made their name. Also appearing at the club were Theodore Bikel, Josh White (Sr. and Jr.), Oscar Brown, Jo Mapes, Brownie McGhee, Sonny Terry, Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, the New Lost City Ramblers, Judy Collins, Hoyt Axton, Jim Croce and Bonnie Dobson. Bill Cosby also performed as a comedian at the club.Bob Gibson was its frequent Master of Ceremonies (M.C.) and often introduced new talent at the Gate of Horn. He met a quiet, shy songstress with a great voice named Joan Baez at the Newport Folk Festival and persuaded her to perform at the Gate of Horn after the festival. Many of those who performed at the Gate of Horn were interviewed by Studs Terkel for his radio show "Studs Terkel's Wax Museum" which also helped build the folk music revival in Chicago. Bob Gibson was also one of the forces behind the influential Old Town School of Folk Music for several decades after the 1960s. In April 1961, Gibson and Bob Camp recorded their folk album Bob Gibson & Bob Camp at the Gate Of Horn at the club.The Gate of Horn outgrew its basement and moved to a larger venue on Rush Street near Oak. This was also one of the clubs at which stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce played, in December 1962, before his arrest and trial for obscenity. When the Gate of Horn folded, its space was filled for several years by Second City. The original Gate of Horn site at 755 N. Dearborn is now a hi-rise rental apartment building; a similar fate befell the building which last housed the 1950s and 1960s free-speech coffee house "The College of Complexes" which was at 515 N. Clark Street—a few short blocks away. McGuinn later wrote the song "Gate of Horn" about the venue and the way it affected him.