Hamilton Grange National Memorial, also known as The Grange or the Hamilton Grange Mansion, is a
National Park Service site in
St. Nicholas Park
St. Nicholas Park is a public park in Manhattan, New York City, between the neighborhoods of Harlem, Hamilton Heights and Manhattanville. The nearly park is contained by 141st Street to the north, 128th Street to the south, St. Nicholas Ter ...
,
Manhattan,
New York City, that preserves the relocated home of
U.S. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795.
Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
. The mansion holds a restoration of the interior rooms and an interactive exhibit on the newly constructed ground floor for visitors. The
Hamilton Heights subsection of
Harlem derived its name from Hamilton's 32-acre estate there.
Origin
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795.
Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
was born and raised in the
West Indies and came to New York in 1772 at age 17 to study at King's College (now
Columbia University). During his career, Hamilton was a
military officer, lawyer, member of the
United States Constitutional Convention, American
political philosopher, war hero, initiator and author of the majority of the pivotal and influential ''
The Federalist Papers'', and the first
United States Secretary of the Treasury.
Hamilton commissioned architect
John McComb Jr.
John McComb Jr. (1763 – 1853) was an American architect who designed many landmarks in the 18th and 19th centuries. Between 1790 and 1825, McComb was New York city's leading architect.
John McComb Jr. was born on October 17, 1763 in New Yo ...
to design a country home on Hamilton's estate in
upper Manhattan. The two-story frame
Federal style
Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...
house was completed in 1802, just two years before Hamilton's
death resulting from his duel with
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805. Burr's legacy is defined by his famous personal conflict with Alexan ...
on July 11, 1804. The estate was named "The Grange" after Hamilton's grandfather's own holdings in Scotland. The Grange was the only home Hamilton ever owned, and he traveled there by
stagecoach from his law office several times a week, and fussed over the landscaping, including a circle of thirteen
sweet gum tree
American sweetgum (''Liquidambar styraciflua''), also known as American storax, hazel pine, bilsted, redgum, satin-walnut, star-leaved gum, alligatorwood, or simply sweetgum, is a deciduous tree in the genus ''Liquidambar'' native to warm temper ...
s symbolizing the thirteen original states. The house remained in his family for 30 years after his death. The Grange might have also been Hamilton's rivalrous answer to
Thomas Jefferson's
Monticello.
First relocation
By 1889, much of the congregation of
St. Luke's Episcopal Church in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
had moved uptown. The Grange was in foreclosure and (since its northern corner partially extended into what would become the south side of 143rd Street between Amsterdam and Convent Avenues) had been condemned for destruction in order to allow for the implementation of the
Manhattan street grid, then just reaching that area of Harlem. The church acquired the house and moved it a half-block east and about two blocks south, conforming to the new street pattern, to what became 287 Convent Avenue. The original porches and other features were removed for the move. The interior staircase was reoriented and retrofitted to accommodate a makeshift entrance on the side of the house that faced the street, and the original grand Federal-style entrance was boarded up.
St. Luke's used the house for services and subsequently between 1892 and 1895 erected a
Richardsonian Romanesque building on the site that wrapped around the house slightly; thus when a six-story
apartment building was built in about 1910 flush on the opposite side, the house was tightly enclosed and many of its features hidden. The
American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society bought the Grange in 1924 and turned it into a public museum in 1933. Furniture and decorative objects associated with the Hamilton family were displayed.
The Grange was designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in December 1960. The private
National Park Foundation purchased the house and property and transferred it to the National Park Service.
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
authorized the
National Memorial on April 27, 1962, requiring that it be relocated and then the house restored to appear as Hamilton knew it in 1802–1804, which is considered its period of historic significance.
[ and ] It was at the time determined that the claustrophobic Convent Avenue setting was inappropriate and that the country house should be viewed as a freestanding building. However, the house was not relocated earlier because of overwhelming local opposition to options offered that required moving it out of the neighborhood. The Grange was administratively listed on the
National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
Second relocation
On May 9, 2006, the Hamilton Grange Memorial was closed to the public to allow for extensive architectural and structural investigations as part of a long-term plan to move the house to nearby
St. Nicholas Park
St. Nicholas Park is a public park in Manhattan, New York City, between the neighborhoods of Harlem, Hamilton Heights and Manhattanville. The nearly park is contained by 141st Street to the north, 128th Street to the south, St. Nicholas Ter ...
. The park location was judged a more appropriate setting for display that would permit restoration of features lost in the 1889 move. The new location would also keep the house in the neighborhood and within the boundary of Hamilton's original estate.
Work in St. Nicholas Park for tree removal and foundation construction began in February 2008. The actual move of the Grange began with elevation of the building in one piece over the
loggia of St. Luke's Church and onto Convent Avenue. Over several weeks it was gradually raised on hydraulic jacks, and more than 7,000 pieces of wood cribbing were inserted under the foundation. It was then moved on rollers along steel beams to wooden stilts of matching height erected in the middle of Convent Avenue, between West 141st and 142nd Streets, which held the entire house approximately ten feet off the ground while traffic was routed around it. These stilts were then slowly disassembled to leave the house resting on dollies, where it received interior bracing and was wrapped in two miles of chains. Finally on June 7, 2008, it completed its journey by being rolled one block south on Convent Avenue and then one block east on 141st Street (down a 6% grade) to the new St. Nicholas Park location. The ''
New York Times''s
David W. Dunlap calculated its speed over the 500 feet at .04 mph. The six-hour event was a popular neighborhood attraction covered extensively in the press. The house was secured to its new foundation, original porches were rebuilt and the original main entrance doorway and main staircase within the entry foyer were restored using original materials recovered from elsewhere in the house. Landscaping around the Grange's new home includes among the tree plantings 13 sweet gum trees as in Hamilton's original garden, a stone wall, a circular rose garden planted in front to Hamilton's own specifications, and paths.
The Grange re-opened to the general public on September 17, 2011. A ceremony was held with Hamilton descendants in attendance and tours of the restored interiors took place through the day.
In the renovated house, a visitor center is located in the entirely newly constructed ground floor, where the kitchen, laundry and servants' rooms would have been. The Grange now has a security detail and possible video monitoring during the evening hours. At its new location, it is next to the
City College campus of the
City University of New York.
References
External links
*Official NPS website
Hamilton Grange National Memorial*''The National Parks: Index 2001–2003''. Washington:
U.S. Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...
.
Hamilton Grange (Alexander Hamilton House)NHL information
Photo Gallery of Hamilton Grange National Memorial Second Relocation Projectby Wolfe House & Building Movers
How Alexander Hamilton's House Got Movedon mentalfloss.com.
{{authority control
1962 establishments in New York City
Grange National Memorial
Biographical museums in New York City
Hamilton Heights, Manhattan
Harlem
Historic house museums in New York City
Houses completed in 1802
Houses in Manhattan
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan
John McComb Jr. buildings
Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
Museums in Manhattan
National Historic Landmarks in Manhattan
National Memorials of the United States
National Park Service areas in New York (state)
National Park Service National Monuments in New York City
New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
Protected areas established in 1962
Relocated buildings and structures in New York City
Relocated houses
Schuyler family residences
Tourist attractions in Manhattan