McPherson Square is bounded by K Street to the north, Vermont Avenue to the east, I Street on the south and 15th Street on the west. McPherson Square was identified as a park on the 1791 L’Enfant Plan of Washington, DC and is a key element of the historic monumental core, along with Farragut Square and Lafayette Square.
McPherson Square is named for Major General James B. McPherson, a leader of the Union Army during the American Civil War. An equestrian statue honoring him is the focal point of the square. The bronze statue was cast by Louis Thomas Rebisso, an Italian born American sculptor, out of a captured cannon and rests on a granite pedestal. The statue was dedicated on October 18, 1876.
National Park Service renovated McPherson Square in 2010 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The park’s benches, trash cans, paths, sod, and planting areas were replaced at this time.