Hidden amongst the glass towers and skyscrapers of New York City are vestiges of the city that once was — tiny brick houses and cobblestones streets peeking out from behind modernity in Lower Manhattan. Amongst these is one of the oldest buildings in New York City, Fraunces Tavern, near the harbor, which witnessed important events in America’s earliest history. Today, the reconstructed building houses a tavern and restaurant as well as a museum where George Washington once addressed his men.

Once upon a time, the house at 54 Pearl Street was linked to some of America’s oldest families whose names grace streets, parks, and areas of modern New York City. The land originally belonged to Stephanus Van Cortland who gave it to his son-in-law, Etienne Stephen DeLancey in 1700. DeLancey built a house on it for his wife, Anne, in 1719, importing the yellow bricks from Holland. When Delancey passed away in 1762, the house was sold to Samuel Fraunces, who converted it into the Queen’s Head Tavern.

Seemingly the Tavern was a raucous place frequented by both American freedom fighters and British naval officers, and tales abound of encounters between the two. One story relates how in 1765, the Americans forced an apology at the tavern from an English sea captain who had tried to bring tea into New York harbor. The story relates how the Americans then disguised themselves as Native Americans and dumped the ship’s tea cargo into the harbor, a feat replicated subsequently in Boston Harbor that made the history books.

The building sustained its share of damage, both from fires and from a cannonball that damaged the building in 1775, when the HMS Asia fired a 32 gun broadside at the city in retaliation for an attack by Americans, who had briefly captured the cannons at Battery Park.

Fraunces Tavern, today, is a popular meeting place for Wall Streeters who congregate at the Dingle Whiskey Bar or Porterhouse, its long shiny bar adorned with draft beer “taps,” its walls lined with bottles of whiskey of every description. The restaurant, with its Colonial-replica tables and chairs, wide plank floors and fireplace in the Talmadge Room, is a unique place to enjoy a weekend brunch. Amongst the restaurant rooms is the Bissell Room with a mural depicting the New York harbor area of 1717. A long crack runs through the middle of the mural, vestiges of a bomb explosion in the building in January 1975, allegedly set by the FALN, a Puerto Rican nationalist group.

Upstairs is the Fraunces Tavern Museum where you can see the recreation of the Victory Banquet organized in the Long Room on December 4, 1783, for General George Washington to bid farewell to his Continental Army officers. Other rooms house paintings and memorabilia of the period. A display of flags outlines the evolution of the American flag through the ages.

If you are visiting Lower Manhattan, a visit to Fraunces Tavern and Museum will take you on a walk through history and will provide a glimpse into the world of New York City as it was over 250 years ago.

IF YOU GO
Fraunces Tavern and Restaurant is located at 54 Pearl Street on the corner of Broad Street in Lower Manhattan. (Tel 212-425-1776). The restaurant is open for lunch, dinner, and brunch. The Museum is housed on the second floor of the restaurant. It is open 7 days a week for 1200 to 1700 If you have a meal at the restaurant, you are given free admission for two to the museum  tel 212-425-1778). To get to  Fraunces Tavern take the No. 4/5 subway to Bowling Green or the No. 1 subway to South Ferry and walk a few blocks.

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