a resolution to re-appropriate an old potter’s field into a military parade ground," and the city bought the land west of Minetta Creek, the square was laid out and leveled, and it was turned into the Washington Military Parade Ground. Military parade grounds were public spaces specified by the city where volunteer militia companies responsible for the nation's defense would train. The streets surrounding the square became one of the city's most desirable residential areas in the 1830s. The protected row of Greek Revival style houses on the north side of the park remains from that time. In 1849 and 1850, the parade ground was reworked into the first park on the site. More paths were added and a new fence was built around it. In 1871, it came under the control of the newly formed New York City Department of Parks, and it was redesigned again, with curving rather than straight secondary paths. Construction of the arch In 1889, to celebrate the centennial of George Washington's inauguration as president of the United States, a large plaster and wood Memorial Arch was erected over Fifth Avenue just north of the park. The temporary plaster and wood arch was so popular that in 1892, a permanent Tuckahoe marble arch, designed by the New York architect Stanford White, was erected, standing and modeled after the Arc de Triomphe, built in Paris in 1806. During the excavations for the eastern part of the arch, human remains, a coffin, and a gravestone dated to 1803 were uncovered below ground level. The first fountain next to the arch was completed in 1852 and replaced in 1872. In 1851, it was described as having "a very large circular basin, with a central jet and several side jets." A story on the completion of the fountain appeared in the first edition of the New-York Daily Times, which would eventually become the New York Times. The statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi was unveiled in 1888. In 1918, two statues of George Washington were added to the north side. Early 20th-century renovation Robert Moses became the parks commissioner in 1934. He embarked on a crusade to fully redesign the park, and local activists began an opposing fight that lasted three decades. In 1934, Robert Moses had the fountain renovated to also serve as a wading pool. In 1952, Moses finalized plans to extend 5th Avenue through the park. He intended