5 Historic Houses Converted Into Museums in NYC | Kevin Brunnock

KEVIN BRUNNOCKNYC5 HISTORIC HOUSESCONVERTED INTOMUSEUMS IN

5 HISTORIC HOUSESCONVERTED INTOMUSEUMS IN

NYC

Morris-Jumel MansionConstructed in 1765 by a British loyalist, Roger Morris, it wasknown as Mount Morris. Amazingly, in the Revolutionary War,

George Washington as well as Hessian and British forceswere occupants in the house.

Washington returned on July 10, 1790, and dined there alongwith Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and

others. The mansion and grounds were later purchased byStephen and Eliza Jumel, by the City in 1903. In 1904 it was

opened to the public as a museum.

Van Cortland House MuseumLocated on the edge of the Van Cortland Park in what was

then Yonkers, the Georgian fieldstone house was constructedin 1748. It is now the oldest building in the Bronx. This house

is another used by George Washington during theRevolutionary War and was also used by the Marquis de

Lafayette, Rochambeau.

The house was converted into a museum in 1896 by theNational Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York

and has been open to the public ever since that time.

Mount Vernon Hotel MuseumConstructed as a carriage house in 1799, in 1826, it was

converted into a hotel. The Colonial Dames of America boughtthe building in 1924 and converted it into a museum, whichwas known until 2000 as the Abigail Adams Smith Museum.The name was changed as President John Adams’ daughter,

Abigail, had no connection with the structure.

Edgar Allan Poe Cottage

Built in 1812 in the then village of Fordham, it was typical ofthe area’s working-class homes. After Poe‘s death, the house

where he had written a number of his works was sold. TheNew York Shakespeare Society saved the home from

destruction in 1913 by raising funds to move it across thestreet. It is a part of the Historic House Trust

Theodore Roosevelt BirthplaceNational Historic Site

This is the only presidential birthplace opened to the publicin New York City. Roosevelt was born on this site in 1858, andthe house was demolished in 1916 to become a retail building.

However, within weeks of his 1919 death, the Women’sRoosevelt Memorial Association bought the lot and the

adjoining one and reconstructed the home to look like whathad been the interior design in the years of 1865-1872. In

1963, it was donated to the National Park Service.

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