The Empire State Building? The Statue of Liberty? Whatever. Next time you visit NYC, go eat where George Washington ate.
| President | George Washington |
| Location | New York, NY |
| Operated By | Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York, Inc. |
| When Visited | March 26, 2018 |
| Who With | My brother, Doug |
| Presidential Significance | George Washington ate at the tavern following the American Revolution, and had his farewell meal with his officers here. |
| Pre-Visit Reading | Multiple books about the American Revolution, along with the lyrics from Act I of Hamilton, none of which mention the tavern specifically. |
I visited Fraunces Tavern with by brother, Doug, who I met up with in the Big Apple for a long weekend in March of 2018. Our trip was scheduled around the tickets to see Hamilton on Broadway that I had purchased eighth months earlier. The day before the show, as we each made our way to Manhattan, we we became aware of an event at the 92nd St Y where Frank Oz was to interview Mark Hamill. Fortunately for us, eight hours prior to showtime was sufficient lead time to secure tickets for that show. These two events were excellent and well worth the trip on their own. But what could possibly take our Hamill-Hamilton weekend to the next level? Obviously, visits to Presidential history sites!
Doug is one of the more willing participants in my Presidential adventures, and since he let me plan most of the weekend’s activities, most of the stuff we did was President-related. While I waited for him to arrive, I went to Federal Hall, where George Washington was inaugurated and served in the Constitution’s early days. Later, Doug and I covered Teddy Roosevelt from cradle to grave, visiting his birthplace in Manhattan, and later his home, Sagamore Hill, and gravesite out on Long Island. We visited Ulysses S. Grant’s tomb, and “visited” (glanced out the train window at) the hospital where Donald Trump was born (see my post on that here). To cap it all off on our last day, we stopped at Fraunces Tavern for some history and some lunch.
Fraunces Tavern sits near the southern tip of Manhattan, on reclaimed ground that was once water, but was filled in in the late 1600s. The building was constructed circa 1720 and began life as a tavern in 1765. During the American Revolution, it was operated by the owner’s Loyalist son-in-law. Once fighting ended in 1781, the tavern was used by British officials to finish up some wrapping-up-some-loose-ends-from-the-war kind of business.
Fraunces Tavern earned its status as a Presidential history site in 1783. On September 3rd of that year, the war formally ended when the Treaty of Paris was signed. On November 25, British troops finally left New York City. During the week surrounding Evacuation Day (as it would come to be known), George Washington both dined in and ordered take out from Fraunces Tavern. On December 4, Washington hosted a private dinner at the tavern, where he bid an emotional farewell to the officers of the Continental Army before formally resigning his post.
Before continuing, I’m just going to pause for a moment and muse on the idea of George Washington picking himself up some 18th century takeout. Because that’s hilarious. Even though, realistically, I know that he probably wouldn’t actually have gone to the tavern himself to pick up the food. Obviously, he would have used 18th century Grubhub or Uber Eats.
So, anyhow, over the years Fraunces Tavern was used for various purposes. There were a handful of fires, then various rebuilding efforts following the fires. Some extra floors were added. You know, the normal kind of things old buildings go through. Between 1900 and 1907, efforts were made to preserved the building and restore it to its historic glory. It opened as a restaurant and museum on December 4, 1907. Just over 110 years later, I would visit.
One thing that stood out as my brother and I approached Fraunces Tavern is how out of place the building seems. As you can see in the photo at the top of this post, its a 300-year old building sitting amidst skyscrapers and other trappings of a modern city.
We had lunch reservations, but arrived early to visit the museum first. The museum is on the second floor and accessed via what I recall to be a somewhat precarious staircase behind the restaurant’s hostess stand. There was a nominal fee to visit the small-ish museum. There were some signs of it needing some maintenance so maybe they should charge a bit more so they could hire a repairperson.
The museum consisted of a handful of rooms, some containing exhibit space, and some finished to look like they did back in the day. The most notable room was the long room, which is the room where Washington’s farewell dinner took place.
Some of the exhibits were rotating, while others were permanent. There were several pieces of art, documents pertinent to the revolution and Washington, and more. Much to my disgust, the “more” included a lock of George Washington’s hair.
I don’t get the old-time concept of keeping a lock of someone’s hair. I guess this was a way to remember someone before you could just take a selfie with them on your iPhone? Even though my visit to Fraunces Tavern was less than two years ago, this is not even the most recent lock of George Washington’s hair that I have come encountered. I could do without the hair. His gross false teeth? No problem. But I’ll take a hard pass on the hair.
After the museum, we headed downstairs for our lunch reservation. I’m mostly sure that I had a salad, but I definitely remember that it was delicious, as was the selection I ordered from the tavern’s wide variety of craft beers. Overall, this was a nice stop to cap off a fun weekend of culture and history.