Picture the original Puritan colonists laying out this 16-acre square, the central piece of their nine-square settlement plan designed by colonist John Brockett. This is the central square of the nine-square settlement plan of the original Puritan colonists, designed and surveyed by colonist John Brockett. Imagine that early plan as you feel the open space beneath your feet: Temple Street bisects the Green into an upper (northwest) and lower (southeast) half, while modern paved roads—College, Chapel, Church, and Elm—frame its edges.
The Green is alive with public life; it hosts the International Festival of Arts and Ideas and the New Haven Jazz Festival, and its summer jazz and classical music concerts can draw hundreds of thousands of people. Those large gatherings sit alongside everyday park activities and the quiet presence of a National Historic Landmark District, a designation given for the architectural significance of the three 19th-century churches located here. It is one of the oldest and most well-known town greens in the nation, dating back to at least 1638, and as of July 2017 the city offers free public WiFi across the Green.
Notice the three historic churches within this National Historic Landmark District, still hosting festivals on ground first laid out back in 1638.