Fraunces Tavern facts for kids
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Fraunces Tavern Block
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North and west fronts of Fraunces Tavern on Pearl Street at Broad Street
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| Location | Bounded by Pearl Street, Coenties Slip, Water Street and Broad Street, New York, NY |
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| Built | Various |
| Architect | Various |
| Architectural style | Various |
| NRHP reference No. | 77000957 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | April 28, 1977 |
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Fraunces Tavern
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West front of Fraunces Tavern on Broad Street
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| Location | 54 Pearl Street, New York, NY |
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| Built | 1719 |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| NRHP reference No. | 08000140 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | March 6, 2008 |
Fraunces Tavern is a museum and restaurant in New York City, situated at 54 Pearl Street at the corner of Broad Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. The location played a prominent role in history before, during, and after the American Revolution. At various points in its history, Fraunces Tavern served as a headquarters for George Washington, a venue for peace negotiations with the British, and housing federal offices in the Early Republic.
Fraunces Tavern has been owned since 1904 by Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York Inc., which carried out a major conjectural reconstruction, and claim it is Manhattan's oldest surviving building. The museum interprets the building and its history, along with varied exhibitions of art and artifacts. The tavern is a tourist site and a part of the American Whiskey Trail and the New York Freedom Trail. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a New York City designated landmark. In addition, the block on which Fraunces Tavern is located is a National Historic Landmark District and a New York City designated landmark district.
Contents
Early history
Pre-Revolutionary history
New York Mayor Stephanus van Cortlandt built his home in 1671 on the site, but retired to his manor on the Hudson River and gave the property in 1700 to his son-in-law, Etienne "Stephen" DeLancey, a French Huguenot who had married Van Cortlandt's daughter, Anne. The DeLancey family contended with the Livingston family for leadership of the Province of New York.
DeLancey built the current building as a house in 1719. The small yellow bricks used in its construction were imported from the Dutch Republic and the sizable mansion ranked highly in the province for its quality. His heirs sold the building in 1762 to Samuel Fraunces who converted the home into the popular tavern, first named the Queen's Head.
Before the American Revolution, the building was one of the meeting places of the secret society, the Sons of Liberty. During the tea crisis caused by the British Parliament's passage of the Tea Act 1773, the patriots forced a British naval captain who tried to bring tea to New York to give a public apology at the building. The patriots, disguised as American Indians (like those of the Boston Tea Party), then dumped the ship's tea cargo into New York Harbor.
In 1768, the New York Chamber of Commerce was founded by a meeting in the building.
Revolution
In August 1775, Americans, principally the 'Hearts of Oak' – a student militia of Kings College, of which Alexander Hamilton was a member – took possession of cannons from the artillery battery at the southern point of Manhattan and fired on HMS Asia. The British Royal Navy ship retaliated by firing a 32-gun broadside on the city, sending a cannonball through the roof of the building.
When the war was all but won, the building was the site of "British-American Board of Inquiry" meetings, which negotiated to ensure to American leaders that no "American property" (meaning former slaves who were emancipated by the British for their military service) be allowed to leave with British troops. Led by Brigadier General Samuel Birch, board members reviewed the evidence and testimonies that were given by freed slaves every Wednesday from April to November 1783, and British representatives were successful in ensuring that almost all of the loyalist blacks of New York maintained their liberty and could be evacuated with the "Redcoats" when they left if so desired. Through this process, Birch created the Book of Negroes.
Washington's farewell to his officers
Engraving after painting by Alonzo Chappel
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| Date | December 4, 1783 |
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| Location | Fraunces Tavern, Broad and Pearl Streets, New York Town |
A week after British troops had evacuated New York on November 25, 1783, the tavern hosted an elaborate "turtle feast" dinner, on December 4, 1783, in the building's Long Room for U.S. Gen. George Washington during which he bade farewell to his officers of the Continental Army by saying "[w]ith a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable." After his farewell, he took each one of his officers by the hand for a personal word.
Post-Revolution
In January 1785, New York City became the seat of the Confederation Congress, the nation's central government under the "Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union." The departments of Foreign Affairs, Finance and War had their offices at Fraunces Tavern.
With the ratification of the United States Constitution in March 1789, the Confederation Congress's departments became federal departments, and New York City became the first official national capital. The inauguration of George Washington as first President of the United States took place in April 1789. Under the July 1789 Residence Act, Congress moved the national capital to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for a 10-year period, while the permanent national capital was under construction in what is now Washington, D.C. The federal departments vacated their offices in the building and moved to Philadelphia in 1790.
Recent uses
| Established | December 4, 1907 |
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| Location | 54 Pearl Street, New York, NY |
| Visitors | 25,000 |
| Owner | Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York, Inc. |
| Public transit access | Bus: M15 Subway:   at Wall Street,     at South Ferry/Whitehall Street |
Since 1907, the Fraunces Tavern Museum on the second and third floors has helped to interpret the Fraunces Tavern and the collection of artifacts that it holds. The museum comprises nine galleries: The John Ward Dunsmore collection of painted scenes of the American revolution; the Elizabeth and Stanley DeForest Scott gallery of portraits of George Washington; the Long Room, the site of General George Washington's famous farewell dinner; the Clinton Room, a recreation of a federalist style dining room; the McEntee Gallery, depicting the history of the Sons of the Revolution; the Davis Education Center (Flag Gallery); and a number of other galleries and spaces used for periodic exhibitions. In 2014, for example, the museum exhibited 27 maps from the 1700 and 1800s, including a never before seen map from 1804 depicting the United States' postal routes.
The building served as the location of the General Society, Sons of the Revolution (a heritage organization similar to and competing with the "Sons of the American Revolution") office until 2002, when the General Society moved to Independence, Missouri. The Fraunces Tavern Museum maintains several galleries of art and artifacts about the Revolution including the McEntee "Sons of the Revolution" Gallery that displays much of the history of the Society.
Images for kids
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Fraunces Tavern, between the 1890 alteration and the 1900 restoration.
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Valentine's City of New York guide book (1920) by Henry Collins Brown, featured the tavern on the cover.
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George Clinton Room at the Fraunces Tavern museum
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Dining room at Fraunces Tavern
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Plaques at Fraunces Tavern
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Fraunces Tavern sign
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Portrait of Samuel Fraunces (c.1770-1785), Fraunces Tavern Museum
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George Washington says farewell to his troops at Fraunces Tavern, New York, 1783 by Henry Hintermeister
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See also
In Spanish: Taberna Fraunces para niños
