Samuel Fraunces Tavern in New York
Posted on February 8, 2010 - Filed Under History, Travel
Once when I was in London, I met a college girl who had arrived in the city for the first time. I suggested we go down to the National Theatre and have some tea and take a look at the river. We could go by way of the Hungerford Footbridge (this was well before the Millennium Bridge was built), and we could get a look at Parliament and Big Ben. She said, “Big who?” I was astonished that she hadn’t heard of the famous bell in Parliament’s clock tower (in fact, it is the bell, not the clock; if she thought it was the clock that would be one thing, but she’d never heard of the name at all). She also pronounced the Thames with a soft th (Thames as in Things). I thought even a casual tourist would know these two things. The same is true of New York City. If anyone didn’t know about the Empire State Building, Central Park, or the Statue of Liberty, I’d be a little shocked that someone could be so sheltered. But there are other places in a city that fewer people know about, although perhaps they should. If you find yourself in New York, one place you’ll want to know more about is the Fraunces Tavern Museum.
One of the older buildings in New York, it was built in 1719 as a merchant’s home. In 1762, Samuel Fraunces bought the place and turned it into a tavern. It was here that George Washington made a farewell address to his officers in the Continental Army (1783), and the tavern itself was a part of the activities leading up to the Revolutionary War. Most people today think only of Washington D.C. as the nation’s capital; however, New York was the first capital of the United States, and the tavern was used then for a number of different departments: The Department of War, Department of Treasury, and the Department of Foreign Affairs. At the start of the Twentieth Century, the building was restored to the way it looked in colonial days and became a museum in 1907. There’s a whole complex of 19th Century buildings added to the 18th Century tavern now.
If you’re looking for some history and a place to eat, the Samuel Fraunces Tavern and restaurant can help you out on both counts. However, if you’re looking for an inn for the night, then you’d better look here.
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