Hamilton Grange National Memorial

Hamilton Grange National Memorial
National Register of Historic Places
National Historic Landmark
National Memorial
Hamilton Grange National Memorial
location	Upper Manhattan , New York City in New York (USA)
Coordinates	40 ° 49 '16.9 "  N , 73 ° 56' 50.2"  W Coordinates: 40 ° 49 '16.9 "  N , 73 ° 56' 50.2"  W.
Built	1802
architect	John McComb Jr.
NRHP number	66000097
Data
The NRHP added	October 15, 1966
Declared as an  NHL	December 19, 1960
As  NMeM declared	April 27, 1962

The Hamilton Grange National Memorial is the last house in which Alexander Hamilton , one of the Founding Fathers of the United States , lived in the early 19th century. It is located in St. Nicholas Park , New York City and is administered by the National Park Service .

history

Alexander Hamilton was born and raised in the Caribbean . At the age of 17 he came to New York in 1772 to study at King's College (now Columbia University ). During his career, Hamilton was an officer , attorney, member of the United States Constitutional Convention , American statesman, and the first United States Treasury Secretary .

Drawing of "The Grange" before 1889.

Hamilton hired architect John McComb Jr. to build a country house on their 130,000 square meter property in Upper Manhattan. The two-story Federal Style house was completed in 1802, two years before Hamilton was killed in a duel with political rival Aaron Burr on July 11, 1804. The house was named "The Grange" after his grandfather's estate in Scotland. Hamilton's mother, Rachel Faucett Lavien, lived there for a while and was buried on a property called Grange on the island of Saint Croix . The Grange was the only house Hamilton owned and it remained in his family's possession for 30 years after his death.

The Hamilton Heights district of Harlem was named after Hamilton.

First change of location

In 1889, the congregation of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Greenwich Village decided to move to Harlem and acquired land in Hamilton Heights, which included The Grange. They moved the house four blocks west to 287 Convent Avenue to make way for profitable townhouses to be built. The stairs were removed and converted for a makeshift entrance on the side of the house. The original entrance was nailed up.

St. Lukes used the house for his church work and built a neo-Romanesque building next door from 1892 to 1895 . Since the building was now "wedged in" between the church and the six-story apartment block, many of the house's special features were no longer visible.

The building was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 19, 1960 , and on April 27, 1962, Congress approved its designation as a National Memorial . At the time, it was determined that the cramped Convent Avenue location was unworthy of a National Memorial and that the mansion should be shown as a free-standing building. However, the building was not moved in 1962 as there was overwhelming local opposition to the move. The Grange was administratively added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966 .

Second change of location

On May 9, 2006, the Hamilton Grange Memorial was closed to the public to allow extensive architectural and structural studies necessary for the planned relocation of the building to nearby St. Nicholas Park. At this location, more worthy of a memorial, it is possible to restore features of the house that were lost during the move in 1899. The new location is also in the vicinity of the previous location and is within the boundary of Hamilton's original 130,000 m² estate.

Work began in February 2008 with the removal of trees and the construction of the foundation. The building was then raised in one piece over the loggia of St. Luke's Church on Convent Avenue. There the house was placed in the middle of the street on specially made, 3 meter high supports and the traffic was diverted around the house. The move to the new location was completed on June 7, 2008. The 6-hour event was a major attraction that received extensive press coverage

After the house was anchored on the new foundation, the original veranda and the former entrance area were restored. The outside area was designed with tree planting, a stone wall and paths. The building has been open to the public again since September 2011.

The Grange is next to the City College of the City University of New York .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hugh Howard: Houses of the Founding Fathers. Original Photography by Roger Straus III. Artisan, New York NY 2007, ISBN 978-1-57965-275-3 .
2. ↑ Exhibit on Rachel Faucett Lavien Fort Christiansvaern, Christiansted National Historic Site. Observed March 1, 2007.
3. ^ Francis Morrone, "Hamilton Heights To Lose Its Namesake?" New York Sun , March 27, 2008 Accessed July 4, 2008.
4. ↑ David W. Dunlap, "Witnessing a House, and History, on the Move" New York Times , June 8, 2008, Accessed June 8, 2008.
5. ↑ National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Hamilton Grange National Memorial | 334 KB | author = Ricardo Torres-Reyes | date = April 1975 | publisher = National Park Service and Accompanying photo, exterior, from 1975. | 32 KB
6. ↑ Gothamist: Moving This Old House ( Memento of the original from March 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ↑ Miami Herald AP story: Hamilton's home moved to new spot in Harlem  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ National Park Service: Hamilton Grange - Welcome to Hamilton's 'Sweet Project' Grand Re-Opening - September 17, 2011 (PDF; 2.8 MB)

Web links

Commons : Hamilton Grange National Memorial  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

• The National Parks: Index 2001-2003 . Washington: United States Department of the Interior .
• National Park Service: Hamilton Grange National Memorial (official site; English)
• Hamilton Grange (Alexander Hamilton House) NHL information
• Alexander Hamilton Historical Society (AHHS)
• Friends of St. Nicholas Park
• Support the move to St. Nicholas Park