Fraunces Tavern Block Historic District
Exploring Downtown
Samuel Fraunces in 1762 named his Queen’s Head tavern after Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III. His politics, however, were strictly patriotic, and his tavern hosted meetings of the radical Sons of Liberty and, later, the New York Provincial Congress. Washington’s farewell to his officers at the end of the Revolutionary War, on December 4, 1783 in the Long Room of the renamed Fraunces Tavern, made this building one of New York’s great patriotic shrines.
Famous for his cooking, especially desserts, Fraunces advertised “Cakes, Tarts, Jellies, Whip Syllabubs, Blaumage Sweet-Meats, &c. in any quantity; cold Meat in small Quantities, Beef Stakes, &c at any Hour; Pickled Oysters for the West Indies or elsewhere.” After the war, which ruined him financially, Fraunces entered Washington’s service as steward and chef, and Congress rented his tavern to house the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Treasury and War.
Threatened with replacement by a skyscraper in 1902, the much altered Tavern was rescued by the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York, under the direction of architect William Mersereau. Today’s Long Room, remodeled in the 1960s after period prints and paintings, recreates a typical 18th century tavern room of the kind in which Washington made his famous farewell.
Marker is at the intersection of Broad Street and Pearl Street, on the right when traveling north on Broad Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
