Dewitt Park

Simeon DeWitt, surveyor-general of New York State from 1784-1834, designed the first layout of the village and designed the first layout of the village and designated this park as a green space. In the late 1810s, DeWitt sold half the park to the Presbyterian Church. The Village of Ithaca agreed in 1856 to maintain the park but allow the church to retain ownership, an agreement still in place today. The park was first named "Publick Square" but was renamed in 1867 in Simeon DeWitt's honor. When Ithaca College was based downtown, DeWitt Park served as its informal academic quad, with administrative buildings and other campus facilities at its periphery. The park now features a war memorial in the center, as well as a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr. on the corner of North Cayuga and East Buffalo Streets.