Whether on a brisk autumn day surrounded by brilliant fall colors or at the onset of spring as trees and flowers begin to bloom, every season is perfect for exploring Yale’s historic and architecturally distinctive campus. YourYale set out on foot to uncover the stories behind five pedestrian walkways.
Library Walk (photo by Anna Zhang)
Library Walk
Library Walk, a bluestone-paved pathway between Branford and Jonathan Edwards Colleges, offers a bucolic shortcut between York and High Streets. Originally laid out as Atwater Street in the mid-1840s, it was part of New Haven’s cityscape. About a decade later, it was renamed Library Street because its axis aligned with the Yale Library building (now known as Dwight Hall and Memorial Chapel), which served as the university’s library from 1842 to 1930. In the 1920s, the university purchased Library Street from the city, closed it to vehicle traffic, and converted it to a pedestrian lawn. Following the construction of Jonathan Edwards College in 1933, it was transformed into a stone walkway and became known as Library Walk.
Rose Walk (photo by Jack Devlin)
Rose Walk
Rose Walk, the pedestrian thoroughfare in front of Sterling Memorial Library (SML), is a must-stroll in any season. Lined with mature trees, benches, and large flower pots, it feels like the heart of central campus as one meanders past the Women’s Table towards Beinecke Plaza, Schwarzman Center, or Yale Law School. Located between Elm and Wall Streets, now Alexander Walk, it expands to form a raised plaza in front of SML overlooking the Cross Campus lawn. In 1990, Yale purchased sections of High and Wall Streets from the City of New Haven. Dedicated in 1993, the walkway honors the Rose family, who funded its installation.
Alexander Walk (photo by Anna Zhang)
Alexander Walk (Wall Street)
Alexander Walk, which runs from the Humanities Quadrangle on York Street to College Street, was completed in June 2021. Its transformation from an urban streetscape to a beautiful pedestrian pathway involved removing the concrete sidewalks and pavement and replacing them with concrete pavers to match Rose Walk. Today, visitors stroll, skip, or cycle past tidy flower beds and shrubs, pause to rest on benches, or utilize one of the new bike racks. Named in honor of Bruce Alexander, former Yale Vice President of New Haven and State Affairs and Campus Development, this thoroughfare has been closed to automobile traffic since 1990.
Bulldog Walk (photo courtesy of Yale Athletics)
Bulldog Walk
When Yale Bowl opened in 1914, it lacked locker rooms. Today, the Yale Football team prepares for home games in the Lapham Field House at the Smilow Field Center. Before kickoff, the team makes their way to Yale Bowl via the Bulldog Walk, a spirited pre-game tradition that features the players and coaches processing, arm-and-arm, from Lapham along an approximately 200-yard pathway into the Yale Bowl. Led by the Yale Cheerleaders and Yale Precision Marching Band, the team passes cheering fans, students, and parents who line the path. The procession concludes as the players march proudly into Kenney Center toward the Yale Bowl tunnel, through which generations of Yale football players have charged onto the field.
Blount Avenue (Grub Street)
Blount Avenue (Grub Street)
Blount Avenue, the Cross Campus walkway that starts at the Noah Porter Gate, was created in 1902 linking Old Campus with the new Bicentennial Buildings and was called University Avenue. The students quickly dubbed it “Grub Street” because it led to Commons Dining Hall. In 1916, it was named in honor of Archibald H. Blount in recognition of a generous bequest, but the term Grub Street remained. Today, the stone footpath, a peaceful tree-lined avenue that students and visitors can traverse, ends at Alexander Walk, passing by Grace Hopper and Berkeley Colleges, William L. Harkness Hall, the expansive Cross Campus lawn, and (over) Bass Library.
