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Historic New York: From Dutch Colony to World Capital of...Capitals


In a city that is ever-changing, where new buildings sprout up seemingly every week, there’s still a vast amount of history to be absorbed, ranging from New York City’s colonial origins, to the immigrant communities of the 19th and early 20th centuries, to recent world-shaping events. What follows is but a small sample of New York’s treasure trove of historic sites and museums.

Founded in 1804, the New York Historical Society is the oldest cultural institution in New York and serves as a collective memory of the city. The NYHS offers a vast collection of American painting, sculpture, photographs, books, manuscripts, antique coaches and fire engines, works by Tiffany and more. Don’t miss four centuries of museum collections in the Henry Luce III Center for American Culture. 170 Central Park West (77th St.), 212-873-3400

The Museum of the City of New York hosts a vast display of photographs, costumes, prints, dolls & more as part of the permanent collection. It embraces the past, present, and future of NYC and celebrates its cultural diversity. Fifth Ave. & 103rd St., 212-534-1672

Ellis Island Immigration Museum memorializes immigrants and their experiences by exhibiting photos, posters, advertisements and naturalization papers, showing how they became assimilated into American culture. The American Family Immigration History Center offers an opportunity to trace ancestors using actual ship records. Free admission with purchase of a ferry ticket. Ellis Island; ferry at Battery Park, 877-LADY-TIX (523-9849) or visit www.statuecruises.com

The building that houses the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, a preserved tenement, was called home by some 7,000 people from more than 20 nations. You can view three fully restored apartments, and see the way these families lived by a guided tour. 108 Orchard St. (Delancey St.), 212-982-8420

From the 1690s until the 1790s, deceased Africans both free and enslaved were laid to rest in a burial ground in Lower Manhattan, outside of the settlement of New Amsterdam (now New York). The grounds, now the site of the African Burial Ground National Monument, were rediscovered in 1991 as a consequence of building construction. 290 Broadway near Reade St., 1st flr., 212-637-2019

Originally a fort built to protect the city in the years before the War of 1812, Castle Clinton became a famous place of entertainment. From 1855 to 1890, more than eight million immigrants were processed through Castle Garden, as it was then known. Still later, it was the New York Aquarium. When the city wanted to tear it down, Congress declared it a national landmark. Battery Park, 212-344-7220

Federal Hall National Memorial is located on what was at one time the nation’s capital, where the Bill of Rights was adopted and George Washington took his presidential oath in 1789. It holds artifacts from Colonial and early Federal New York. 26 Wall St., 212-825-6888

Fraunces Tavern was the site of Washington’s farewell address to his officers on December 4, 1783, and figured prominently in his presidency. Today, there’s a colonial-style restaurant on the first floor and the Fraunces Tavern Museum upstairs, which exhibits Revolutionary Era armaments, flags, art and other objects. 54 Pearl St., 212-425-1778

Located on the site of what was once this country’s leading port, South Street Seaport Museum is now a twelve-square-block historic district where 18th- and 19th-century buildings line stone-paved streets, offering gallery exhibits and the largest privately owned collection of historic vessels, in tonnage, in the United States. 207 Front St., 212-748-8600

The Historic House Trust of New York City preserves and promotes 22 historic house museums located throughout the city. Among them are Historic Richmond Town, a village of historic buildings manned by reenactors; Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence; The Old Stone House, on the site of a pivotal battle of the Revolutionary War; Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, where the famed author lived and wrote; and the Queens County Farm Museum, a working farm dating back to 1697. 212-360-8282

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