Celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with a 2.13-mile walking tour through Revolution-era New York City. We begin at City Hall Park and take a winding path to Bowling Green. Then, a relaxing view of Governors Island, continuing to historical sites on the way to a delicious dinner at historic Fraunces Tavern. Comparing a period map, such as the Bernard Ratzer map, against the modern streetscape reveals which colonial-era streets survive unchanged and which have been altered or lost entirely.^[1] For a leisurely preview before setting out, the entire route can be traced in Google Maps Street View.

City Hall Park

We begin our tour at 52 Chambers Street, on the steps of the Tweed Courthouse.^[2] City Hall Park (the Common) is a small triangular park in lower Manhattan located on an old plateau. The Montresor topographical map (piece of British intelligence)^[3] shows Broadway and Park Row follow the edges of the plateau, avoiding marshland.^[4]

The Common began as a pasture and started serving government functions as early as 1728, but it remained a space for the public to gather.^[5] Colonial city government included the Common Council which was elected by freeholders (those with property worth at least £40) and freemen (enrolled merchants or artisans).^[6] The Council managed streets, poorhouses, prisons, public spaces, markets, and local justice.^[7] By the 1770s the city population was 22,000–25,000.^[8] However, in 1776, fearing a full British assault, thousands fled and population dwindled to 5,000.^[9]

Roads like Broadway were paved below Wall Street. The lovely cobblestones were difficult to see under garbage and animal waste. Hogs were the main garbage removal system until 1802.^[10] Along the East River were slips for ships and markets at the end of major streets.^[11] Though a stroll was not recommended with waterways polluted by residents dumping “tubs of human waste” in them.^[12] It was difficult to walk around because there are no sidewalks (until 1790).^[13] Drinking water was scarce and came from wells and the pond to the north.^[14]

North of us you would find the African American Burial Ground.^[15] The nearly six-acre burial ground may contain as many as 15,000 burials of enslaved and free Africans in New York City between approximately 1650 and 1795.^[16] The city’s slave market stood at Wall and Pearl since 1711.^[17] Enslaved Africans performed nearly every type of labor the city depended on, from docks and slaughterhouses to skilled trades like shipbuilding, coopering, and tailoring. By 1741, nearly 2,000 of the city’s 10,000 residents were African, and skeletal remains from the Burial Ground reveal widespread injury and early death.^[18]

To the west, Trinity Church rented land where carpenters, bricklayers, and cartmen kept modest homes. This area also housed King’s College (1760), St. Paul’s Chapel (1766), and a red-light district called “Holy Ground” because it was on land belonging to Trinity Church.^[19]

After the Seven Years’ War in 1763. The troops stayed after the war to make “certain that His Majesty’s subjects did as they were told.”^[20] Before the barracks were built, troops would be housed in private homes as a necessary part of the war effort.^[21] It did not go over well. So, the Common Council built the barracks in 1768 to house 800 men in a massive 420 feet long and 20 feet wide, two-story building.^[22]

We are standing at the Upper Barracks of the British Military. The Common Council had to build the barracks because of the 1765 and 1774 Quartering Acts which were specifically referenced in the Declaration of Independence^[23] and the Third Amendment required them to.^[24]

The Acts said the Council must provide housing for British troops, first in public buildings or if necessary to build barracks, and provide food, beer, cider, rum, firewood, and other goods. ^[25] The Council resisted the 1765 Act. The 1774 Act shifted authority from colonial legislatures to royal governors, who could easily take uninhabited houses, outhouses, barns, or other unoccupied buildings to quarter troops without the consent of the local assembly.

A pedestrian path behind the courthouse, leads to a replica Liberty Pole west of City Hall (tall, white pole with “Liberty” on top). It is a 1921 gift from the Sons of the Revolution.^[26]

Inspired by Roman goddess libertas with her vindicta (wand) that was topped with a liberty cap, a Liberty Pole could be a repurposed ship mast or a new one made by maritime artisans. ^[27] A Liberty Cap is on the New York Seal.

The Sons of Liberty, a group of “plain-spoken, self-taught, self-made men” led by Isaac Sears formed in response to the Stamp Act of 1765 and led protests throughout the city, including burning down Chapel Street Theater. ^[28] The Stamp Act forced people to buy special stamped paper sent from Britain for legal documents, newspapers, etc.

The first Liberty Pole was erected by the Sons of Liberty on the Common, directly across from the Upper Barracks, on May 21, 1766, to celebrate the repeal of the Stamp Act.^[29] A sign on top read “George 3rd, Pitt – and Liberty.” William Pitt helped repeal the Act in Parliament.^[30]

On August 10, 1766, troops with a long history of “violence against civilians” cut down the first Liberty Pole after the New York Assembly refused to follow the Quartering Act and “requisition salt, vinegar, and beer.”^[31] The second pole went up on the same spot August 11 and the Sons of Liberty pressured retailers “shun” the troops.^[32] On September 23, the soldiers pulled down the second pole. Third pole, erected September 24 and down by March 19, 1767.^[33]

The fourth Liberty Pole, escorted by two thousand people, led by Isaac Sears, (erected March 19) had “[i]ts lower portions armored with iron plates, the pole itself driven so deep into the ground that it was nigh impossible to tear down.”^[34]

For another view of the pole we will walk down Broadway and stop at a very low wall in the grass. There is a marker for Bridewell, a Revolutionary War prison. Here the British starved 2,000 people and allegedly hanged another 275.^[35] Across the street was the Sons of Liberty’s headquarters at Montayne’s Tavern on the corner of Murray and Broadway.

By 1770 Common Council agreed to provision troops, and Sons of Liberty organized protests at the Liberty Pole. The troops tried to cut it down, failed a few times, and trashed Montayne’s Tavern.^[36] Finally succeeding on January 17, they sawed it into firewood, and neatly stacked the pieces on Montayne’s doorstep. This led to the first true bloodshed of the Revolution (weeks before the Boston Massacre) at Golden Hill (John Street) on January 19–20, 1770.^[37]

When the city refused to let Sons of Liberty erect another pole on public property, Isaac Sears bought a private plot in front of the Barracks. On February 6, 1770, thousands of armed colonists (and a marching band), escorted a new pole there. ^[38]  The base was embedded twelve feet deep, protected by iron bars, hoops, and topped with “Liberty” weathervane.^[39]

It was near the Liberty Pole that, on July 9, 1776, at 6 p.m., George Washington assembled the city’s troops to hear the Declaration of Independence.^[40] The crowd was so energized that it marched to Bowling Green. We will follow the crowd but first a few stops along the way. The fifth pole came down in October 1776.

Also in City Hall Park is a statue of Nathan Hale, who said “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country” before his execution and a plaque for Isaac Barré, who coined “Sons of Liberty” when objecting to the Stamp Act in Parliament.^[41]

Short Stops on Our Way to Bowling Green

Street Names

Use the Ratzer Map for street names and the Chandler Map to see the old canal on Broad Street.^[42] Lower Manhattan streets meander because early settlers wanted to be close to the fort and after six years of “squatting” earned a “patent, for his land.”^[43]

Vesey Street is named for Rev. William Vesey, the first rector of Trinity Church, and Rector Street for where he lived.^[44] Maiden Lane was named for the spot young maidens did their laundry in a freshwater stream.^[45] Liberty Street used to be Crown Street.^[46]

Wall Street takes its name from a fortification built by the Dutch in 1653 to “prevent an invasion by the English,” and the British “demolished [it] in 1695 as the city grew northward.”^[47] Broad Street follows the path of a Dutch canal created to drain marshland and allow boats to deliver goods up to Exchange Place.^[48] By 1676 it was polluted and filled in.^[49]

Exchange Place was named for a merchants’ exchange and is one of the city’s narrowest streets.^[50] Beaver Street honors the beaver, whose fur was a major commodity (waterproof and used to make fancy hats). There are two beavers on the city seal.^[51]

St. Paul’s Chapel

After leaving the Common via Broadway, we pause to admire the back of St. Paul’s Chapel, Manhattan’s oldest surviving church and public building, built by Trinity Church from 1764 to 1766.^[52] The beautiful Georgian Colonial symmetrical architecture was designed to face the river; the “east porch was added three years later as a concession to the persistent demands of that busy thoroughfare.” Inside is the pew where George Washington worshipped.^[53] After September 11, 2001, the Chapel served as a sanctuary, providing 3,000 meals a day to workers and displaying memorials and photographs of loved ones who passed.^[54]

Trinity Church

Continuing down Broadway, we arrive at Trinity Church, an Anglican church and the third building on this site.^[55] The first was constructed after Queen Anne granted the parish 215 acres in 1705. It burned down in the Great Fire of September 21, 1776, which leveled “one-quarter to one-third of the city’s housing stock.”^[56]

The Great Fire began near Whitehall Slip, the blaze spread rapidly north, aided by strong winds and suspicious conditions such as “missing fire-alarm bells, broken fire engines and pumps, empty cisterns, and wagonloads of combustible materials concealed in cellars and basements.”^[57] Congress had rejected the idea of burning the city but Washington later remarked, “Providence — or some good honest Fellow, has done more for us than we were disposed to do for ourselves.”^[58] St. Paul’s Chapel survived the Great Fire of 1776 thanks to a “hastily organized bucket brigade.”^[59]

Trinity Church’s burial ground includes Alexander Hamilton’s grave.^[60] As of 2025, Trinity still holds approximately 14 acres, with an endowment of roughly $6 billion.^[61]

Federal Hall

Turning onto Wall Street we arrive at Federal Hall with a statue of George Washington close to where he was inaugurated on April 30, 1789.^[62] The first building here was City Hall in 1701. The current building was built in 1842. The Stamp Act Congress met here before the Revolution, Congress met here while New York was the Nation’s first capital (for 531 days) and drafted the Bill of Rights on this site.^[63] Walk down Broad Street (read the markers about the canal in the road) and make a right at Beaver Street which ends at Bowling Green.

Bowling Green

Bowling Green is New York City’s first and oldest public park, named for the game that was a favorite pastime.^[64] Bowl of Rights, Liberty Bowls, The Common Strikers, and The Bowling Rebellion are all strong bowling team names. Originally a cattle market and parade ground, it became the city’s first park in 1733.^[65] It was also a site for protests.

During the Stamp Act crisis, a crowd burned the private coach and effigies of Governor Cadwallader Colden but, to be fair, he did swear to “cram the Stamps down their Throats with the End of my Sword.”^[66] By 1773, the city had passed an anti-desecration law protecting the gilded “Equestrian Statue of our most gracious Sovereign” which sat on a marble pedestal fifteen feet high (punishment was a 500 pound fine or a year in prison).^[67] They also erected a protective iron fence with decorative crown-shaped finials around the park.

On July 9, 1776, the energized crowd that heard the Declaration of Independence at the Common marched down Broadway, tied ropes around the King George III statue and pulled it down.^[68] The statue was made of 4,000 pounds of lead.^[69] They “smashed the metal to small pieces” and sent it to Connecticut to be molded “into forty-two thousand musket balls.”^[70] Patriots sawed the crown-shaped finials off the fence (the saw marks remain visible to this day). The head “was later rescued by a British officer and shipped back to England” and at the New York Historical Society, you can see the horse’s tail.^[71]

After the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, Patriot forces asserted authority of the port, seized arms, and the British fled to their ships in the harbor.^[72] On August 23, 1775, Alexander Hamilton and others raided Fort George and the Battery to seize cannons. Under heavy musket fire from troops in the harbor, and even fire from the warship Asia the Patriots escaped with 21 of 24 guns, dragged them to the Liberty Pole and kept them under guard. This is referenced in the musical Hamilton.^[73]

As the British were leaving on November 25, 1783, they nailed the royal ensign on a flagstaff  at Fort George and greased the pole. John Van Arsdale, a sailor wearing cleats, climbed up (Philadelphia Eagles fans perfected the technique centuries later), and replaced it with the Stars and Stripes, to a cheering crowd.^[74]

Bowling Green features several markers including plaques recounting toppling the statue, removing the crown finials, designation as the city’s first public park, and one about Evacuation Day. For Hamilton tickets, there is a digital lottery, and seats are just $10.^[75]

Governors Island

Instead of taking the ferry to Governors Island we will walk through Battery Park to the Statue of Liberty Lookout.^[76] We have walked nearly a mile, and it will be a comfortable viewing area to enjoy some well-deserved snacks.^[77]

Battery Park is built on landfill and is named for the group (called a battery) of cannons mounted along the sidewalk opposite the museum from 1683 to 1688.^[78] Governors Island is in New York Harbor, just a half-mile from Manhattan.^[79] Today it is a park, but during the Revolution (and until 1996) it was a military installation which deterred the British from entering the harbor in 1812 and served as a command center for the eastern seaboard in 1942, including during the German U-boats crisis.^[80]

Defending New York against the most important naval fleet in the world with “no navy to speak of,” would not be easy but they had to fight. If the British took the Hudson, they could cut off the “rebellious New England” from the rest of the colonies. So, the colonists had every man in the city, “including servants and slaves” work on fortifications for three months.^[81] There was even a submarine, called the Turtle. Though it was more like an ingenious underwater bicycle. On September 7, 1776, the Turtle tried unsuccessfully to bring down the HMS Eagle, anchored off Governors Island.^[82]

On the night of August 29–30, 1776, Washington evacuated his troops across the East River from Brooklyn to Manhattan, with the Governors Island garrison covering the boats.^[83] The East River is a saltwater estuary about a mile wide and “difficult to navigate, with swift, contrary currents and tides as much as six feet.”^[84] Even with three men manning the oars, “crossing the river could take over an hour.” On the evening of August 30^th, while being ineffectively fired upon by the British, the boats finally carried the island’s 2,000 men, 40 pieces of heavy cannon, provisions, and military stores to safety.^[85]

As we leave, imagine there are ships everywhere and some are prison ships where Patriots are being held and dying by the thousands because of neglect and disease.^[86] A woman named Elizabeth Burgin helped “two hundred American prisoners of war escape from the city” and the British put a two hundred pound bounty on her. She used a “flag of truce” to reenter and retrieve her children.^[87]

On a happier note, the SeaGlass Carousel is a fun side quest before exiting (only $6).^[88]

Freedom Stops On Our Way to Food

Street Names

We will cross State Street, which did not exist in 1660 or 1767 and go to Whitehall Street (where the Great Fire started), named for the white building at the end erected by the Dutch governor.^[89] We are aiming for No. 18 on the Ratzer Map.

We first pass Pearl Street which was the original “shore of the East River . . . and is named for the mother-of-pearl oyster shells” on the beach.^[90] Then we pass Bridge Street, named for a bridge that led across Broad Street canal.^[91] Around here was “a mercantile exchange, complete with a bell and a drop box for transatlantic mail.”^[92]

Right on Stone Street, the city’s first paved street (1658).^[93] Left on Broad, right on South William Street, and stop at the Icon Parking garage at 26 South William Street.

Freedom of Religion

Most religions in Dutch times could not worship in public (Lutherans, Quakers, other Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Jews).^[94] For example, in 1654, founders of Shearith Israel, the oldest surviving Jewish congregation in North America, were allowed to stay in New York (fascinating story about pirates) only if they agreed to worship in private.^[95]

During the British rule, laws were relaxed or bypassed, except for Catholics. By 1730, the 225 member Jewish congregation erected the first synagogue in the country at 26 South William Street.^[96] Still, the Anglican Church was the established church, which meant taxes went to pay the salary of ministers, establish churches, and support them at the local level.

After the Revolution, Moses Seixas, the leader of a local congregation in Newport, Rhode Island welcomed Washington when he visited. His letter expressed hope for “a Government, which to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”^[97] Washington echoed the phrase in his August 21, 1790, reply, firmly promising liberty of conscience and paving the way for the First Amendment.^[98]

Freedom of the Press

We will walk through Stone Street on our way to Hanover Square. Stone Street looks very old, and it is. The 23,000 cobblestones and old-style lampposts date from the year 2000. The post-1835 buildings (another Great Fire) are decorated with lovely string lights.^[99]

At Hanover Square, there were two newspapers in 1733 which makes sense when only one out of five residents could read in 1700 and by 1750, it was two out of five. ^[100] The New York Gazette was published by William Bradford and served as the “government’s mouthpiece” for Colonial Governor William Cosby. The New York Weekly Journal, published articles that “lashed Cosby for incompetence, influence peddling, corruption, collusion with the French, election fraud, and tyranny.” And published by Bradford’s former indentured servant, John Peter Zenger.

Cosby sued Zenger’s paper for “seditious libels” where one was guilty if the material was “undermining the authority of government. The truth or falsity of such material was irrelevant.”^[101] Andrew Hamilton, an amazing trial attorney, convinced the jury that though Zenger published the pieces, truth is a defense to libel. The case became a foundation to a principle enshrined in the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press.

Hanover Square was also the site of Revolutionary War espionage in 1778. Washington’s Culper Spy Ring operated under the leadership of Major Benjamin Tallmadge.^[102] Historians debate the full membership and tactics. What we do know is that they existed, used a numerical code and invisible ink to protect themselves. ^[103] What we don’t know for certain is whether there was a woman code named “355” and whether James Rivington was also involved. So, the Culper Ring was clearly very good at keeping secrets.^[104]

For fans of John Wick, “The Continental” is up Pearl Street at 1 Wall Street Court.

Fraunces Tavern

If City Hall Park is where the Revolution begins in New York, Fraunces Tavern is where it ends, with Washington saying goodbye to the army that made independence possible.

Fraunces Tavern, located on Broad and Pearl, has the best roasted Brussels sprouts in New York City. The phone number for the restaurant ends in 1776 and the upper floors house galleries featuring artifacts and exhibits maintained by the Sons of the Revolution (the same who erected the replica Liberty Pole).

The building itself is built on a “water lot” that was filled with landfill in 1686. The remains of General Lovelace Tavern are across the street under the plexiglass.^[105] The first building was built in 1719. The Sons of the Revolution used funds willed by Benjamin Tallmadge’s grandson to buy the building in 1904 (plaque on the building). According to a 2021 professional examination, many original items remain, even after extensive renovations.^[106]

Fraunces Tavern was the headquarters of the Sons of Liberty prior to the Revolution. Many meetings were held here, including the first one on October 31, 1765 to adopt resolutions against the Stamp Act.^[107] They created the first “non-importation agreement” which said they would not import goods from England until the Stamp Act was repealed and sell nothing from England on commissions with a 500£ bounty for catching violators.

The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, but the British did not leave until after the Birch Trials.^[108] November 25, 1783, was Evacuation Day and there were celebrations everywhere including a huge fireworks display on December 2 in Bowling Green.^[109] There were dinners honoring Washington at Fraunces Tavern, where thirteen toasts were made. Finally, on December 4, 1783, at noon, Washington bid a final farewell to the remaining officers assembled in the Long Room. After emotional remarks, Washington collected his hat and gloves, walked to Whitehall Street and took a barge to New Jersey.

* * *

Editor’s note: The author is an attorney and a member of Inn of Court.

[1] Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. “To His Excellency Sr. Henry Moore, Bart., . . .” New York Public Library Digital Collections. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/8b2b3160-c5d5-012f-d95c-58d385a7bc34 (hereinafter Ratzer Map).

[2] NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, “African Burial Ground and the Commons Historic District Designation Report,” prepared by Gale Harris, Jean Howson, and Betsy Bradley, edited by Marjorie Pearson (New York: NYC LPC, February 1993), 73, No. 3, https://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1901.pdf (hereinafter Landmarks Study).

[3] Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library, “A plan of the city of New-York: survey’d in the winter, 1775 [i.e. 1766]” New York Public Library Digital Collections https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/8d6df3f0-c5d5-012f-6d48-58d385a7bc34?canvasIndex=0 (hereinafter called the “Montresor Map”); see also Discussion of Montresor’s Survey, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/live/It1tmQIqDxg?si=V63V1rGdE5GBEYsv.

[4] NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, City Hall Park, New York, NY (1999–2008): Site Report (NY: NYC LPC, 2008), Ch. 3, 157-158 https://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/1046_B.pdf (hereinafter Landmarks CHP). The topographic analysis draws on Ch. 3, § B, pp. 133–35.

[5] Landmarks Study, 3 (Dongan Charter of 1686 and the Montgomerie Charter of 1730 confirmed that vacant “unpatented lands” were for communal use); Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999) 140 (Not for use by freemen) (hereinafter Gotham)

[6] Gotham, 140 (discussion of “freeholders” and “freemen”).

[7] Gotham, 184-187 (Municipal Improvements, general Common Council duties).

[8] Gotham, 194 (population figures 1770).

[9] Gotham, 226-227 (population figures in 1776).

[10] Gotham, 360 (relied on hogs for “clean up.”)

[11] Gotham, 125 (five municipal markets along East River waterfront one at the end of each major road).

[12] Stephen Jenkins, The Greatest Street in the World: The Story of Broadway, Old and New (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1911), 40. https://dn790000.ca.archive.org/0/items/greateststreeti00jenk/greateststreeti00jenk.pdf (hereinafter Jenkins); Gotham 184-185.

[13] Jenkins, 34, 37, 144.

[14] “Frefh Water” pond on the Ratzer Map; Jenkins 36.

[15] Howard University and U.S. General Services Administration, The New York African Burial Ground: Unearthing the African Presence in Colonial New York (Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, 2009), 41 and 92 (maps), (https://www.gsa.gov/system/files/Volume5_GenAudNYABG_2.pdf (hereinafter Howard GSA).

[16] Howard GSA, 42 (15,000 burials),

[17] Gotham, 31, 128, 188; David Hackett Fischer, Liberty and Freedom: A Visual History of America’s Founding Ideas (Oxford University Press, 2005), 87 (hereinafter Fischer).

[18] Howard GSA, 64 (population figures), 64-68 (Daily life and type of work), 69 (musculoskeletal stress markers)

[19] Gotham, 187-188 (rented land from Trinity Church), 181 (King’s College 1760), 177 (St. Paul’s erected 1766), 214 (“Holy Ground”); Ratzer Map No. 19 and 3.

[20] Gotham, 195 (“subjects did as they were told”).

[21] Gotham, 168 (“billeted soldiers in private homes”).

[22] John Gilbert McCurdy, “The Upper Barracks: Military Geography in the Heart of New York,” Gotham Center for New York City History (July 11, 2019), https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/the-upper-barracks-military-geography-in-the-heart-of-new-york.

[23] Declaration of Independence, ¶¶ 13, 16 (July 4, 1776).

[24] U.S. Const. amend. III.

[25] Gotham, 198 (Quartering Act description).

[26] Landmarks Study, 31, 73 No. 5.

[27] Fischer, 41-43 (Roman symbolism).

[28] Gotham, 194, 197 (Gov. Colden), 199 (Stamp Act), 200–202 (Sons of Liberty), 202-203 (Chapel St. Theater).

[29] Fischer, 38.

[30] King George III appears in Netflix’s Queen Charlotte and Bridgerton series. Pittsburgh is named for William Pitt.

[31] Gotham, 205 (refuse to follow Quartering Act); Fischer, 44 (Unit description and Aug. 10 cut down pole).

[32] Gotham, 205 (pressure on locals); Fischer, 44 (Next day raised new pole).

[33] Fischer, 44 (Sept. 23 cut down pole, March 19 cut down pole).

[34] Fischer, 45 (armored fourth pole description).

[35] Landmarks CHP, Ch. 3, 157-158.

[36] Gotham, 210-211 (dates for the times the troops tried to cut it down), 211 (events on Jan. 17 and Golden Hill).

[37] Fischer 45-46 (neatly stacked firewood); Gotham, 211 (events on Jan. 17 and Golden Hill).

[38] Fischer, 45; Gotham, 211

[39] Fischer, 46; Gotham, 211; Charles M. Lefferts, Scenes from the American Revolution: Fifth Liberty Pole on the New York Commons, ca. 1910, New-York Historical Society, 1920. https://emuseum.nyhistory.org/objects/38043.

[40] Gotham, 232.

[41] Gotham, 242; Fischer, 747, fn. 14

[42] Harry Chandler, Chandler View of New Amsterdam in 1660: The Present Southern End of Manhattan Island, New York City (New York, 1933), Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection, Map No. M-1660, https://mapcollections.brooklynhistory.org/map/chandler-view-of-new-amsterdam-in-1660-the-present-southern-end-of-manhattan-island-new-york-city/. Based on the original 1660 Castello Plan by Jacques Cortelyou (hereinafter Chandler Map).

[43] Jenkins, 5-6.

[44] Jenkins, 52.

[45] Gerard R. Wolfe, New York: 15 Walking Tours, 3rd ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003), 56 (hereinafter Wolfe).

[46] Near Ratzer Map No. 31, Gotham, 307.

[47] Visible on the Chandler Map; Ratzer Map No. 22; Wolfe, 56–57.

[48] Visible on the Chandler Map; Wolfe, 63.

[49] Jenkins, 8.

[50] Wolfe, 64.

[51] Wolfe, 56–57

[52] Ratzer Map No. 3; Landmarks Study, 20; Wolfe, 3.

[53] Wolfe, 85-86.

[54] Wolfe, 4-5.

[55] Wolfe, 13.

[56] Gotham, 250 (It was enlarged in 1737, destroyed by the Great Fire in 1776, rebuilt in 1791, torn down and rebuilt again 1839–1840); The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. “Map of Great Fire, 1776” New York Public Library Digital Collections. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/52f45530-c55d-012f-3c09-58d385a7bc34.

[57] Gotham, 214, 242.

[58] Gotham, 239, 242.

[59] Gotham, 241.

[60] Wolfe, 14.

[61] Ratzer Map No. 2; Wolfe, 13; Jenkins, 58; Trinity Church NYC. 2025. “Trinity’s Historic Endowment.” December 18, 2025. https://trinitychurchnyc.org/stories-news/trinitys-historic-endowment.

[62] Ratzer Map No. 22; Wolfe, 65; President Washington Taking the Oath, Federal Hall, 1789, 1839, oil on fine linen, 52½ × 72 in., New-York Historical Society, X.269, https://emuseum.nyhistory.org/objects/1525.

[63] Wolfe, 65.

[64] Gotham, 37, 52; Wolfe, 16.

[65] Wolfe, 16; Castello Map near Fort George.

[66] Gotham, 199.

[67] “An Act to Prevent the Defacing the Statues Which Are Erected in the City of New York,” ch. 1580, passed February 6, 1773, in The Colonial Laws of New York from the Year 1664 to the Revolution, vol. 5 (Albany: J.B. Lyon, State Printer, 1894), 457. https://archive.org/details/coloniallawsnew01nygoog/page/457; Fischer, 175; and Gotham, 224.

[68] Gotham, 232; Charles M. Lefferts, Equestrian Statue of King George III, Bowling Green, New York City, circa 1912 New-York Historical Society https://emuseum.nyhistory.org/objects/16191/equestrian-statue-of-king-george-iii-bowling-green-new-yor?ctx=7d34f5377118c40073eaa2d71263540fb885c6ae&idx=9; Exhibit “The Road to Independence” (core exhibition), Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia, PA, https://www.amrevmuseum.org/exhibits/the-road-to-independence.

[69] Gotham, 232.

[70] Fischer, 176.

[71] Gotham, 233.

[72] In this paragraph: Gotham, 224 (Patriots asserted authority), 226 (Raid on Fort George and the Battery).

[73] Willard Sterne Randall, “Hamilton Takes Command,” Smithsonian Magazine, January 2003, available at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/hamilton-takes-command-74722445/ (hereinafter Randall Article). Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton: An American Musical, Original Broadway Cast Recording, Act I, No. 1 (Alexander Hamilton) (Atlantic Records, 2015). The musical is inspired by Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton (New York: Penguin Press, 2004) (hereinafter Miranda). Miranda nods to the exploit in “Right Hand Man”: “I know you stole British cannons when we were still downtown.” (Miranda, Act I, No. 8).

[74] Gotham, 260.

[75] For a deeper exploration of Hamilton’s legal legacy, see Anastasia Zurashvili’s article in this issue, as well as Adam K. Magid and Dylan Ceballos’s article on Gouverneur Morris.

[76] GPS Coordinates: 40.70091893767391, -74.01515617446279.

[77] Governors Island National Monument Historic Resource Study, supra , at 15–16 (evacuation details; Howe’s hesitation; mid-November departure from Manhattan) https://npshistory.com/publications/gois/hrs.pdf (hereinafter Gov. Is.).

[78] Wolfe, 20 (name), 23 (landfill).

[79] Gov. Is., xv.

[80] Gov. Is., xv, 225, 214; Steve Grogan, “A True Long Island War Story 75 Years Ago,” Herald Community Newspapers, June 16, 2017, https://www.liherald.com/stories/a-true-long-island-war-story-75-years-ago,92861.

[81] Gotham, 228-229; Gov. Is., 13, 15.

[82] Connecticut River Museum, “Turtle Submarine,” https://ctrivermuseum.org/turtle-submarine/.

[83] Gov. Is., 15.

[84] McCullough, 126–127.

[85] Gov. Is., 15.

[86] David McCullough, 1776 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), 493 (hereinafter McCullough).

[87] Gotham, 255-256.

[88] SeaGlass Carousel. “The SeaGlass Story.” https://www.seaglasscarousel.nyc/seaglass-story/.

[89] Jenkins, 14.

[90] Chandler Map; Wolfe, 56.

[91] Brugh Street on Chandler Map; Jenkins, 14.

[92] Gotham, 79.

[93] Jenkins, 32.

[94] Gotham, 59, 94, 104 (Lutherans jailed 1653 for trying to build a church. In 1657, Quakers were banned).

[95] Gotham, 60; Fischer, 119; NYC LPC Commission, “Stone Street Historic District Designation Report,” LP-1938, Designation List 273, June 25, 1996 (hereinafter Stone St. Report).

[96] Gotham, 133-134, 401 (The cornerstone for the first Catholic Church (St. Peter’s Church on Barclay Street) was laid in October 1785).

[97] George Washington Papers, Series 4, General Correspondence: Newport, Rhode Island, Hebrew Congregation to George Washington, Address of Welcome. 1790. https://www.loc.gov/item/mgw436755/.

[98] The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 6, 1 July 1790–30 November 1790, ed. Mark A. Mastromarino (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1996), 284–286. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-06-02-0135.

[99] Stone Street (Manhattan) – Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Street_(Manhattan); Duke Street on Ratzer Map; Stone St. Report, 4 (named for Duke of York); Gotham, 598 (Great Fire).

[100] Gotham, 108 (readership statistic and names of papers), 153 (Cosby description), 130 (Zenger history).

[101] Gotham, 154 (definition of libel), 154-155 (Andrew Hamilton).

[102] Bill Bleyer, “George Washington’s Culper Spy Ring: Separating Fact from Fiction,” Journal of the American Revolution, June 3, 2021. https://allthingsliberty.com/2021/06/george-washingtons-culper-spy-ring-separating-fact-from-fiction/ (hereinafter Bleyer CPR).

[103] Bleyer CPR; Gotham, 255 (Supposedly captured in 1779, later dying on a British prison ship.)

[104] Patrick Cascone, review of Washington’s Spies: The Story of America’s First Spy Ring, by Alexander Rose, New York History 91, no. 1 (2010).

[105] Gotham, xxi; Wolfe, 60; NYC LPC. “Stadt Huys Block.” NYC Archaeological Repository: The Nan A. Rothschild Research Center. https://archaeology.cityofnewyork.us/collection/map/stadt-huys-block.

[106] “Fraunces Tavern,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraunces_Tavern.

[107] Jenkins, 63-64 (Queen’s Head, headquarters and non-importation agreement, reward amount).

[108] Francine Uenuma, “Enslaved by George Washington, This Man Escaped to Freedom and Joined the British Army,” Smithsonian Magazine, June 14, 2023, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/enslaved-by-george-washington-this-man-escaped-to-freedomand-joined-the-british-army-180982362/.

[109] Gotham, 261 (Evacuation Day celebrations and Washington’s farewell).