Fraunces Tavern and Pearl Street
Long before the United States gained its independence, the area around the southern tip of Manhattan had been home to the Lenape. The history of Pearl Street goes far back in time. When the Dutch first created a settlement in lower Manhattan, the coast was quite different, as Pearl Street originally followed the island’s shoreline. Built around 1633, the Dutch named it Paerlstraet after the multitudes of oysters found there. They built up the shoreline further beyond Paerlstraet with landfill to what is now Water and Front Streets.
On December 4, 1907, Fraunces Tavern re-opened its doors following a comprehensive renovation to bring it back as closely as possible to the building’s original style from 1719. The De Lancy family built their residence at 54 Pearl Street as a three story house, of brick, tile and with a lead roof, in keeping the style of the time. Over the course of the building’s history, it was rented out and used as a dancing school and even hosted balls; at one point it was used as a store and residence.
Samuel Fraunces, the tavern owner, bought the building in 1762 under the name of Queen Charlotte (Queen’s Head Tavern). However, this famous tavern was more than a meeting place for the community and for food. In the latter 1700s, the tavern hosted many organizations including The New York Chamber of Commerce (founded in 1768), The New York City Sons of Liberty, the Knights of the Order of Corsica, and in 1775, the New York Provincial Congress. Here began the early work of organizing the convention for the Provincial Congress and Second Continental Congress. During the British occupation of New York, the tavern continued to serve the community, in addition to providing for the British.
As the years passed, Pearl Street continued to develop, and more buildings were erected on the block between 1827 and 1833. Unfortunately, after a series of fires in the early 1800s, the tavern suffered greatly, so was rebuilt and added onto over the years. It was refashioned as a boarding house for a number of years and was divided into many smaller rooms for boarders. In 1900, the building was about to be demolished, but thanks to the Daughters of the American Revolution and the president of the Society for the Preservation of Scenic and Historic Places, the Honorable Andrew H. Green, the building was spared and painstakingly repaired and renovated to the appearance we see today.
When you look at the oldest photos of Pearl Street, you can see its winding cobblestones as well as the last remaining brick and wooden buildings from the 1700s. As modern buildings went up in the area, excavators discovered the remnants of some of the earliest buildings built in lower Manhattan. Some of these foundations are still visible, protected by glass sidewalks, so that all who wander through the neighborhood can see a bit of the history of how lower Manhattan changed over hundreds of years. The Pearl Street of today is still charming with its cobbled streets and cafes with outdoor seating, and is very much a popular meeting place, much as it used to be, for locals and tourists. Fraunces Tavern has all the old-world charm that you would expect after its major renovation. You can dine in several locations within it and go to the museum to learn more about the history of its construction and of the important events that took place there.
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