The square was the original town center and first came into existence in the early 19th century where roadways from north and south convened.

Clinton Square is also the site of Syracuse's municipal Christmas tree and menorah during the holiday season.

The modern era has seen a number of festivals take place in the square, beginning with the 1991 Jazz Fest.

The monument consists of a square granite pylon with attached Roman Ionic columns at its corners, crowned by a globe supported by four eagles.

This is set atop a plinth, and a stepped plaza with corner piers supporting bronze lampposts.

[5] The 1881 fire consumed the Wieting Opera House, which The New York Times described as "one of the finest structures here [in Syracuse], and containing one of the handsomest theatres in the State".

[5] Other relatively well-known buildings that have been taken down in the square's vicinity include the Clinton Block, Hotel Clover, and Goettel's laundry.

[7] The area to the north of the square is occupied by the Syracuse Newspapers Building (1971), which replaced the third Onondaga County Courthouse.

[5][10] When Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, visited Syracuse, a reception for him was held in the square.

Charles Dickens visited it in 1869 and wrote of it as "the worst inn that ever was seen ... located in a most wonderful out-of-the-way place which looks as if it had begun to be built yesterday and were going to be knocked over with a nail or two tomorrow.

Aimed at feeding poor inhabitants of the city, Greenway had invited the whole of Syracuse, at the time 43,000 people.

Contemporary reports stated that most of the attendees were not actually poor, and included some living outside of the city who had taken a train in explicitly for the banquet.

[16][17] Clinton Square also held celebrations after presidential elections and when wars ended, sometimes with fireworks set off.

The square was officially re-designated from a marketplace to a park in 1899, and an oval flower garden was added to its center.

[5] Construction began on the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the square in July 1909, in front of a crowd estimated at 50,000 people.

However, this change also caused the square to have increased numbers of people who "seemed" homeless or were dealing drugs, according to Syracuse University professor R. Van Deusen Jr.[22] Redevelopment work in 1981 led to the installation of two pyramid-shaped cascading fountains, partially made with bricks from the Erie Canal.

[1] A 2002 analysis of the square's redevelopment published in GeoJournal described the neighborhood around Clinton Square as having undergone gentrification in the years leading up to the 2001 project, highlighting rules banning hot dog vendors and a movement to ban "alternative press street boxes".