Hangman's Elm

One of the largest and oldest trees in NYC, which stands in the northwest corner of Washington Square Park, has a dark past. In the 18th century, the park was a potter’s field for yellow fever victims, and Revolutionary War traitors were supposedly hung from its branches. Later, in the 1820s, highway robbers were also reportedly hanged here. Though much of the Hangman Elm's history may be legend, there was a recorded hanging nearby in the park. In 1820, Rose Butler was 19 years old when she met her fate for a charge of arson.