Along with MacDougal Alley and Stuyvesant Street, it was originally part of a Lenape trail which connected the Hudson and East Rivers,[1] and was first developed as a mews (row of stables) that serviced horses from homes in the area.

[2] The institution leased the land, using the resulting income to establish its Staten Island complex; the homes built on the land along the north side of Washington Square and the south side of Eighth Street came with two-story stables built along what became known as Washington Mews.

[2] The private stables were used by the families of men such as Richard Morris Hunt, John Taylor Johnston, and Pierre Lorillard.

[2][3] Around 1950, New York University leased most of the entire property and gradually converted the buildings along the Mews into offices and faculty housing.

In 1988, NYU hired architect Abraham Bloch to design a new six-foot-high Fifth Avenue gate, replacing the simple posts-and-chain used since the studios were built.