Fraunces Tavern Museum, Pearl Street, New York, NY

As history buffs who greatly admire and study the lives and works of the fathers of our nation, we couldn’t visit New York City without a pilgrimage to Fraunces Tavern Museum on Pearl Street. The diminutive building is overshadowed by rising skyscrapers of modern times, testaments to the success of the nation as a bastion of religious and economic liberty.

Dumb truck!

Oh, this is better.

Fraunces Tavern is where George Washington said his farewell to his officers in 1783 after years of military service in the Continental Army. It is said that many men openly cried while Washington gave his speech. Little did they know that the Great American Experiment was just beginning. Washington would be back in a few years, inaugurated as President of the United States at nearby Federal Hall on Wall Street.

The original building is gone, having suffered a series of fires and renovations so that no one knows exactly what the building looked like before 1890. Originally, on this site a house was built in 1671 as a residence for wealthy New York Mayor New York Mayor Stephanus van Cortlandt. It was replaced with another residence in 1719. Samuel Fraunces purchased the building in 1792. He converted it into a tavern and named it The Queen’s Head.

The New York Sons of Liberty secretly met at the tavern before and during the American Revolution. Did you know that New York had its own little version of the Boston Tea Party? In 1765, fed up with taxes and encroaching liberties from England, a handful of patriots dressed as American Indians infiltrated a British cargo ship carrying the dreaded British tea. They forced the captain to apologize for the cargo, and promptly dumped the tea into New York Harbor. And thus our love for coffee was begun.

We lunched in the dining room before perusing the museum upstairs. Our lunch experience was so-so; read my review of lunch at Fraunces Tavern at my other blog, WowChowCooking. Admission to the museum upstairs is free if you purchase a meal in the dining room. That was a pleasant surprise.

The upstairs is filled with paraphernalia. We watched a brief movie about the history of Fraunces Tavern and then wandered the rooms at our own leisure.

This is a photo of the Clinton Dining Room, so named because Governor George Clinton dined here.

I love the Federal style architecture and decor.

This is the bowl that held the turtle soup reincorporating the New York Chamber of Commerce at the Clinton dinner. Turtle meat seemed to be a delicacy for such occasions (according to menus of the past that served it regularly for important functions). I have never had it. I doubt anyone would eat anything lugged from the Hudson anymore.

We saw many amazing pieces of odd paraphernalia, including a portion of Washington’s wooden coffin, some of Washington’s hair and his dentures! Rome may have dozens of nails that pierced Christ’s limbs but we have Washington’s hair!

 

Assorted relics of pre-modern warfare littered the display cases. Some treasures were discovered by little boys digging in their back yards.  Read more

A Visit to Fort Ticonderoga, Part 3

We spent the better part of a day at Fort Ticonderoga, taking in the magnificent sights of the Adirondack Mountains and Lake Champlain, absorbing the amazing and sometimes tragic history, and exploring the fort’s numerous labyrinthine pathways and alcoves. And this was all before we had even entered one building! Read Part 1 and Part 2 of our visit.

New visitors are strongly urged to visit the visitor’s hall and view a movie about the fort. Even though we are very familiar with Fort Ticonderoga history and importance in battles, we sat and enjoyed the video. I was especially intrigued with the history of its restoration. You can read about that in my previous post, A Visit to Fort Ticonderoga, Part 2.

There is SO much to see inside the buildings that I cannot possibly do it justice here. I only highlight what I found interesting, and even then I must condense it. I highly recommend that you visit the Fort, there’s something for everyone there.

Both stories of the buildings are loaded with fort memorabilia and quite a number of breathtaking archaeological finds. I was awed by this: one of the old metal armor breastplates presumably made by the first French soldiers here in the 1750s. The plaque card says the armor was discovered in 1941, built into the wall. Because of its unusual position in the wall construction, archaeologists believe the armor is a votive offering by the French masons, for “good luck.”

There were many such artifacts to be seen:

This blew me away. A piece of her wedding dress?!

A watch key was a small metal device. With it, the watch owner could wind the watch. Amazing!

George Washington had good ol’ snuff. Well, at least the snuff BOX. Read more

A Visit to Fort Ticonderoga, Part 2

In A Visit to Fort Ticonderoga, Part 1, I discussed the amazing views of the fort and its very important role in the defense of pre-colonial settlements and American Revolutionary strategy.

After soaking in the glorious sights and enjoying a musket drill, we entered the interior ring of the fort that once housed the soldiers, their families, and the stuff that made it all tick: ammunition. Read more

A Visit to Fort Ticonderoga, Part 1

Fort Ticonderoga, an historic site in New York near the Vermont border (Lake Champlain) has everything: breathtaking views of the Adirondack high peaks, walking paths through gardens and restored pre-colonial buildings, hands-on stuff and lots of climbing and exploring for the kids, and oodles and oodles of ancient history– well, as ancient as America can get: Iroquois Indian arrowheads and French settlement from the late 1600s.

We’d visited the Fort Ti grounds once before, sneaking in after the place had closed for the season. We walked the leaf-strewn trails and peeked over the stone walls. We didn’t see any of the interiors of the fort or the buildings, as the places were locked and we didn’t dare intrude that far. We had gotten a healthy taste of the incredible landscape, however, to taunt us for a return visit. Which, I am happy to report, we did this autumn.

After walking through the admission area and gift shop (which is loaded with stuff and I spent a bundle of money in it), you walk down a small hill that faces the south side of the fort, toward the bottom of Lake Champlain and the top of Lake George. The views are simply staggering. Read more

Bagg’s Square and Old Fort Schuyler, Utica, NY

Bagg’s Square is an inconspicuous spot in the northern section of Utica, NY. It is named for Moses Baggs, a blacksmith and tavern keeper who kept a thriving business here.

Before there was Utica, there was Fort Schuyler, built in this area by the British in 1758. It was a critical spot for the new American settlers. Fort Schuyler was “a chain of forts built to protect the northern frontier from the French and their Indian allies, and to guard the great ford across the Mohawk Valley.” Fort Schuyler was named for Colonel Peter Schuyler, the uncle of the famous Phillip Schuyler (who later became Alexander Hamilton’s father-in-law). There’s a bit of confusion about the naming of the forts. During the American Revolution, Fort Stanwix in Rome (another British-built fort and was named for a British officer during the French and Indian War of the 1750s) was renamed Fort Schuyler, after Philip Schuyler. This Fort Schuyler here near Bagg’s Tavern was renamed “Old Fort Schuyler.” After the Revolutionary War, both Fort Stanwix/Fort Schuyler and Old Fort Schuyler were dismantled. When Fort Stanwix/Fort Schuyler was resurrected in the 1970s as a memorial, it was given it’s original name Fort Stanwix. Got that? There’ll be a test tomorrow… whew!

In 1794, Moses Baggs built a small but comfortable tavern near the fort, to house the many settlers and military men traveling from the eastern to western ends of New York State. George Washington and Marquis de LaFayette stayed at the tavern, as well as Henry Clay and General Ulysses Grant. It also became a stagecoach stop for mail delivery. In 1815, Moses Baggs’ tavern was torn down and replaced by a larger one made of brick. That, too, is gone. This newer stone building and park remain as a memorial to the important part Utica played as intermediary for travelers and ideals of revolution and reconstruction.

If I remember correctly, this area is where a huge revival was sparked in the 1820s, under the preaching of Charles Grandison Finney. Utica was one of the most affected cities. It was reported that all bars and houses of ill-repute were closed, because there was no business for such promiscuous living. Everyone was “getting religion” and didn’t want to sin anymore! This area was buzzing with revival that it became known as the “Burned-Over District.” Imagine, this happening in Utica, New York!

And then this plaque at the top of the tavern made us stop in our tracks. Read more

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