1 Best Sight in New Haven, Mystic, and the Coast, Connecticut

Bordered on its west side by the Yale campus, the New Haven Green is a fine example of early urban planning. Village elders set aside the 16-acre plot as a town common as early as 1638. Three early-19th-century churches—the Gothic Revival-style Trinity Episcopal Church, the Federal-style Center Congregational Church, and United Church—have contributed to its present appeal. For a year, from September 1839 to August 1840, survivors of the slave ship Amistad were incarcerated in a jail on the east side of the green and were brought out of jail to exercise there. An Amistad memorial now resides at the site of the former jail. Besides being a pleasant urban park, the Green is also the venue for festivals and events throughout the year.