This is how James J. Walker Field, bordered by Hudson and Clarkson Sts. and St. Luke’s Place, looked on March 20, 1940. According to the Parks Department’s Web site, from 1812 to 1895, the land served as St. John’s Cemetery, Trinity Church’s burial ground. Parks acquired it in 1895. Originally called St. John’s Park, its name changed to Hudson Park by 1896. Architects Carrere and Hastings’ elegant design included a sunken garden, lagoon, perimeter walk and gazebo. A playground opened in 1903. A rectangular marble sarcophagus on the park’s north side, dedicated in 1834 to three fallen firemen, is the sole reminder of the site’s former cemetery function. In 1946 the park was paved and a sandlot baseball diamond built. In 1947 the City Council changed the park’s name to honor former Mayor Jimmy Walker, whose family had moved to 6 St. Luke’s Place in 1886. Spurred by community efforts, including 90 letters from neighborhood children to the Mayor’s Office, a $250,000 playground renovation project began in June 1996. Handmade animal tiles salvaged from a prior 1972 renovation and horse-head hitching posts were incorporated into the renovation. A fitting tribute to Walker, who legalized Sunday baseball, the ball field today is a mecca for the Greenwich Village Little League.
