George Washington’s New York How England’s Treasured Colony Became the Capital of a New Nation Offi cial Walking Tour Take a Walk Through History New York City was established by the Dutch on what is perhaps the greatest natural harbor in the world. Then called New Amsterdam, the settlement was ideally positioned for trade, not only across the Atlantic with Europe but also by river to Canada. These lucrative trade routes made the harbor a target as well as a prize. In 1664, the British captured the Dutch city, and New York became England’s prized colony. Over the years, the British military invested in strong fortifications Walking Tour Stops to protect the harbor city from attack by 1 Castle Clinton/The Battery European rivals, never dreaming when 2 Bowling Green they installed a 100-cannon battery aimed 3 Fraunces Tavern at the harbor mouth that those same cannons would someday be turned on 4 Stone Street its own colonial subjects during the 5 Trinity Church American Revolution. 6 St. Paul’s Chapel/City Hall Park 7 Federal Hall This dramatic story will be revealed Tontine Coffee House, as you walk the route of this tour and trace N.Y.C., ca. 1797, by Francis Guy. Oil on linen, lined This self-guided tour begins with the battery George Washington’s path through New to fi berglass. New-York fortifications that protected the strategic Historical Society York to experience the city’s transformation harbor from invasion. It concludes on Wall from colonial treasure to the cradle of Street at Federal Hall, the site of America’s revolution and the capital of a new nation. fi rst capitol building. There you can enjoy the National Parks of New York Harbor Visitor Center and take your photo with the famous statue of George Washington. The tour should take about 90 minutes, including time to see and explore each site. Map Imagine the Past Tune out the traffic and construction of lower Manhattan and imagine a New York filled with a different type of noise – the bustle of sailors and merchants, the clamor of cargo moving on and off ships and the commotion of commerce in a thriving 18th century port. Look out at the harbor and imagine the A View of Fort George With fleet of nearly 500 British war ships and the City of New York From supply vessels which filled it. With over the Southwest, circa 1764, by John Carwitham 30,000 soldiers, this was the largest after William Burgis. Hand- colored engraving. invasion force ever mounted by England, New-York Historical Society unequalled until D-Day in the 20th A Plan of the City of New- century. The battle for New York took York & its Environs, place here in August 1776, resulting surveyed in the Winter, 1775, by John Montresor. in a near-disastrous defeat for George Private Collection Washington’s army. Seven years of occupation followed for the city’s dwindling population. New York was reborn with Washington’s return and inauguration, as the great general became the first president of the United States, and this became its capital. Map CHAMBERS ST. CHAMBERS ST. WESTBROADWAY GREENWICH ST. WARREN ST. WARREN ST. PARK ROW MADISON ST. A CENTRE ST. V. OF END AV. NORTH TH E MURRAY ST. FIN EST City Hall FRANKFORT ST. PARK PL. Park WASHINGTON ST. SPRUCE ST. C BROA DWAY BR MURRAY ST. WEST ST. O H O KLY U PARK ROW DOVER ST. N BARCLAY ST. BR R BEEKMAN ST. I DGE C BARCLAY ST. H PECK SLIP S T VESEY ST. THEATER ALLEY 6 ANN ST. BEEKMAN ST. St. Paul’s Chapel/City Hall Park FULTON ST. PEARL ST. WATER ST. World Financial World Trade DEY ST. Center Center Site JOHN ST. GOLD ST. CORTLANDT ST. FRONT ST. South Street CLIFF ST. MAIDEN LANE Seaport PLATT ST. WILLIAM ST. JOHN ST. LIBERTY ST. BROA DWAY LI GREENWICH ST. BE RTY Pier 17 CEDAR ST. ST. FLETCHER ST. SOUTH END AV. MAIDEN LANE SOUTH ST. THAMES ST. CEDAR ST. T. NY S NASSAU ST. PINE ST. LBA A CARLISLE ST. 5 7 PEARL ST. WASHINGTON ST.Trinity Church Federal Hall WALL ST. W H TRINITY PL. A I RECTOR ST. L N L RECTOR PL. O I A V WATER ST. M E EXCHANGE PL. R FRONT ST. B S S GOVERNEUR LANE R T. F.D.R. DRIVE O T NEW ST. A D 3RD PL. S WEST THAMES ST. T . OLD SLIP Pier 11 LITTLE WEST ST. STONE ST. T T GREENWICH ST. S S R E 4 T. AV M IS S E IA H u d s o n RR B L Stone Street E a s t MO L I COENTIES SLIP . W R i v e r S R i v e r 2ND PL. WEST ST. 2 MARKETFIELD ST. Bowling Green STONE ST. 3 1ST PL. Fraunces Tavern B A BROAD ST. T S T T BATTERY PL. S T PEARL ST. E BRIDGE ST. H R A T Pier 6 Y PL. T U O E WHITEHALL ST. S S T . ELLIS 1 ISLAND Castle Clinton/The Battery GOVERNORS ISLAND LIBERTY ISLAND Statue of Liberty Feet 0 500 Map courtesy of The Alliance of Downton New York 1 A Great Harbor In 1776, you would be walking on water At the time of the Revolution, The here at Castle Clinton. The ground Battery – named for its fierce array of 100 beneath your feet is all 19th century cannons – began at the present-day landfill. Castle Clinton was completed Staten Island Ferry terminal and extended in 1811 after the storm of revolution just to the north of Bowling Green (the had passed. Built as a fortification, it was next stop on this tour). Together with Fort one of the earliest military undertakings George, home to the Commander of of the new nation. The speed of all British forces in North America, the its construction is a testament to how Battery protected colonial New York Southeast Prospect of the quickly and effectively America organized from water attack. Dioramas in the City of New York, 1756. its government. New-York Historical Society Visitor Center at Fort George no longer exists, but during Castle Clinton At that time, Castle Clinton was a man- an excavation for New York’s subway National Monument reveal how the made island connected by a long bridge to system, a piece of the original battery wall New York skyline the harbor shore. It provided a strategic was found. The oldest remaining structural sprouted as the military presence at the northern edge of element in all of Manhattan, this vital piece city expanded north New York harbor, which had been of history was moved here for display at in the 19th and 20th centuries. The protected fi rst by the Dutch and then by Castle Clinton. 1812 diorama the English throughout New York’s provides a good colonial history. sense of the scale of New York City in Washington’s day. The Eruption of 2 Revolution Walk inland through Battery Park to Bowling Green and you will arrive at the ground that originally had been the water’s edge in colonial times. The Battery and its companion fortification, Fort George, were right here. The Fort, the Battery and a barracks one half mile up Broadway at the city’s northern limit, made up the largest military complex in the region. Pulling Down Statue of The Museum of King George III, New York City, by Johannes Adam Bowling Green was a recreation area for fence remains, enclosing the park. The the American Indian Simon Oertal, ca. 1859. the popular sport of lawn bowling. When statue of King George and the fence post in the beautiful Oil on canvas. New-York Alexander Hamilton Historical Society New York was still a loyal colony in 1770, crowns were melted into two tons of metal U.S. Customs House a statue of King George III was erected and turned into 42,088 musket balls for Reading of the Declaration completed in 1907 of Independence at City approximately where that fountain in George Washington’s Continental Army. occupies the former Hall in Wall Street, 1776, site of Fort George. published by A.S. Barnes Bowling Green Park now stands. & Co., 1880 in History of Across the street, at the City of New York Vol. II 1 Broadway, is the by Martha J. Lamb. Just six years later, after the Declaration spot where General Engraving. Private Collection of Independence was read for the first time George Washington in New York State in the city Commons set up his very fi rst (currently City Hall Park), a throng of New York headquarters in patriots stormed Bowling Green. They June 1776. ripped off the royal crowns that decorated the fence posts and tore down the statue of King George. Today, the original iron 3 A Nest of Spies A few short blocks away is Fraunces plotted against the British Tavern. On August 23, 1775 tensions were government. When British high between the American colonists officers came to the tavern and the British forces stationed up and to carouse and dine, Fraunces listened down the East Coast. Under the cover closely and relayed their battle plans of darkness, a group of American rebels, to George Washington. including a young student named Alexander Hamilton, began to dismantle In 1783 when the Continental Army the British cannons at the Battery. When was victorious, Washington chose the A Midnight Modern they were discovered, they shot at British Tavern’s Long Room as the site to bid Carefully restored, Conversation, by unknown artist after William Hogarth, boats killing one sailor.