Introducing the Stonewall Inn

The Stonewall Inn, in Greenwich Village, was the site of a police raid in the early hours of June 28th, 1969. This was not an unusual occurrence, as the LGBTQ community faced intense discrimination from law enforcement at this time. But instead of dispersing, the angry crowd fought back and the resistance and uprising was a key turning point in the LGBTQ rights movement. One year later on June 28th, 1970, thousands gathered to mark the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising where homeless LGBTQ teens, trans women of color, lesbians, drag queens, gay men, and Allies took a stand against systematic targeting by the police. The Christopher Street Liberation Day March covered 50 blocks of New York City and similar marches occurred in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. Over time, these have been replicated in hundreds of cities across the world to commemorate the events of June 28th that were a pivotal moment in the LGBTQ rights movements. 

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, CyArk documented the Stonewall Inn National Monument Site in March, 2019. The project, the first of its kind to detail an LGBTQ historic site, employed 3D mapping technology including LiDAR laser scanners and photogrammetry to create a sub-centimeter, detailed record of the site as it exists today. CyArk's three-person mapping team captured exteriors of the park, the exterior of nearby buildings on Christopher street, and the exterior and interior of the Stonewall Inn bar. This record will aid in the preservation of the national monument and make this important part of history accessible to visitors across the globe, for generations to come. This project was made possible through the generous support of Iron Mountain.