About Fraunces Tavern
Washington’s Farewell to the Officers of his Army, Currier and Ives (active 1835-1907), Lithograph with hand painted watercolor, 1876, Collection of Fraunces Tavern Museum, X103
Fraunces Tavern was a witness to history throughout the American Revolutionary era. First constructed in 1719, the building that would become Fraunces Tavern was built as an elegant residence by merchant Stephen Delancey. In 1762, Samuel Fraunces purchased the building and transformed it into a tavern that soon became the epicenter of Patriot activity in New York. Fraunces Tavern served as a meeting place for the Sons of Liberty in New York before the War for Independence was declared and the Continental Army lost possession of the City. During the British Army’s occupation, Fraunces aided Patriots aboard prison ships in New York Harbor and passed on intelligence to the Continental Army. At the end of the War, as the British Army and Loyalists evacuated, the Tavern was the site for trials that were part of a process that led to the emancipation of thousands of Black Loyalists. General George Washington celebrated the final evacuation of the British Army from American shores at Fraunces Tavern on November 25, 1783. On December 4, 1783, nine days after the British evacuation, Washington delivered his emotional farewell to his officers in the Tavern’s Long Room. From 1785 to 1788, Fraunces Tavern became the nation’s first executive governmental building that housed three departments of the Confederation Congress - Foreign Affairs, War, and offices of the Board of Treasury.
The Tavern is the oldest building in Manhattan. It is a New York City landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and includes a bar and restaurant on the lower floors and museum on the upper floors.
About Fraunces Tavern Museum
Established in 1907 after a landmark restoration that preserved the integrity of the original Fraunces Tavern building, today, the Museum is located in a five-building complex within a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places that includes Fraunces Tavern. The Museum attracts tens of thousands of visitors including school children annually who can explore exhibitions focusing on America’s War for Independence and the preservation of early American history. The Museum’s 8,000-piece object collection consists of furnishings, communication documents, personal artifacts, and art. While a fraction of the collection is on display at any given time, a significant portion of the collection is available to view on the Museum’s website.
