In the early days, Bowling Green Park was the parade ground, where soldiers marched and drilled in New York City.

On July 9, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read to George Washington's troops. They reacted by marching with the Sons of Liberty to Bowling Green Park where a statue of King George III sitting upon a horse had been placed upon marble base. The fence was knocked down and the statue toppled. The statue was chopped up and shipped to a Connecticut foundry to be made into some 40,000 Patriot bullets.