The Historic House Trust of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
was formed in 1989 as a
public-private partnership with the
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolo ...
to preserve the
historic house
A historic house generally meets several criteria before being listed by an official body as "historic." Generally the building is at least a certain age, depending on the rules for the individual list. A second factor is that the building be in ...
s located within New York City parks,
although most of the houses were not originally city-owned.
The Trust works with the individual houses to restore and promote the houses as a means of educating residents and
visitors
Visitor, in English and Welsh law, is an academic or ecclesiastical title.
Visitor or Visitors may also refer to:
Geography
* Visitor (mountain), a mountain in eastern Montenegro
* Lake Visitor, a mountain lake in eastern Montenegro
Literature
...
about the social, economic and political history of New York City and cast
urban history
Urban history is a field of history that examines the historical nature of cities and towns, and the process of urbanization. The approach is often multidisciplinary, crossing boundaries into fields like social history, architectural history, urb ...
in a new light.
The Trust includes 23 historic sites, with 18 operating as museums and attracting 729,000 annual visitors.
Properties
The Historic House Trust includes properties in each of New York City's
five boroughs
5 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
5, five or number 5 may also refer to:
* AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era
* 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era
Literature
* ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram
* ''5'' (comics), an awa ...
,
and there is a house for every period in the City's history, depending on one's scheme of dividing history.
A number of the properties have live-in caretakers to help prevent vandalism and other problems.
History
In 1988, the City Parks department established a Historic House Office to preserve the 23 City-owned historic house-museums located in City
parks
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...
. This office gave way to the Historic House Trust of New York City in 1989, funded by private donations,
as well as grants,
with the goal of each house becoming a professionally accredited museum.
In an effort to increase awareness of the program during its first year of operation, the Trust developed a so-called passport program wherein visitors would receive stamps each time they visited one of the houses. If a visitor went to all 23 properties, they would receive an audience with the
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
.
HHT's passport program was brought back in 2008 as a method of commemorating the Trust's 20th anniversary.
The Trust also holds events such as the Historic Houses Festival, during which all the houses are open with different events at each, in order to raise awareness.
New properties are added to the Trust when they come under city control if private care-taking or ownership has not succeeded,
although the contents of the home may remain under private ownership.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Houses in New York City
Landmarks in New York City
Organizations based in New York City