2. Land From Bowling Green Was Rented for One Peppercorn Per Year

Image from Wikimedia Commons

The NYC Department of Parks writes that Bowling Green served as an informal communal ground until the 1740s, when the Common Council — the area’s governing body — offered the land for rent at the “cost of one peppercorn per year.” The site was designated a park in 1733, and three lessees, landlords John Chambers, Peter Bayard, and Peter Jay, were responsible for developing it into “the delight of the Inhabitants of the City” with trees, walking paths and a bowling green.

Read more about how Bowling Green got its name here.