Walking tours of Hamilton sites in NYC?

[Popular]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 8:56am

1) Any suggested list of places to see on our own aside from Trinity Church?

2) Any suggested paid tours that aren’t too much of a scam?

3) Is it too cold out to even consider this?

Thanks!

[Dave13]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 9:14am

The two most important stops are not within walking distance of Trinity Church. The Hamilton Grange, which is his uptown residence and Weehawken both require public transportation to get to from Trinity Church.

 

the Morris-Jumel Mansion is another great stop.  That will also require public transportation from Trinity Church.  My suggestion is to create your own tour.  

Updated On: 11/15/17 at 09:14 AM

[tjdolan85]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 9:21am

Hey Popular - I own a walking tour business of the Broadway Theatre District called Broadway Up Close and we have a tour called The HamilTour: The Tour Where It Happened. Two loved ones of mine were in the original cast and the tour has lots of "making of" the musical stories on Alexander Hamilton's sidewalks downtown. I have plenty of room on our Monday, November 20th tour at 11am if you're available to join then. Our website is BroadwayUpClose.com if you want to check it out. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 10:38am

I've heard many good things about^

[Popular]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 10:49am

Thank you! I checked out the website and it looks like you’re sold out for the days we’d be available.

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 12:15pm

I did the Hamiltour last summer with Broadway Up Close and it was awesome. If you are at all into Hamilton the musical, history, or New York City, you should definitely try it. I had already done the Big Onion Revolutionary War walking tour so I thought I would see all of the same stuff but the Hamilton tour had a ton of extra Hamilton-related places so it was very cool. I would go again with some Hamilton-obsessed friends. 

Updated On: 11/15/17 at 12:15 PM

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 12:18pm

To answer your third question, it's definitely not too cold for a walking tour right now unless you're particularly sensitive to the cold. If you dress appropriately for the weather, you'll be totally fine! I actually think it's pretty gorgeous out. (Just check the weather ahead of time. Obviously cold-ish + raining is a different story.)

[tjdolan85]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 12:25pm

I'm so sorry we don't have any availability for while you're here - this November has been surprisingly busy! Please keep us in mind for future trips as we're here all year 'round! And if you're still looking for something fun to do this weekend - we have our new Ghostlight Tour or original ACT I, II and III Tours as well! Hope to see you on a Broadway sidewalk soon! 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 12:28pm

I literally live across the street from his uptown residence. It's on 141/Broadway. It's kind of cool to see it amiss all the current buildings. Very easy to get to and walk around. And the whole area is called Hamilton Heights, so tons of cute restaurants. 

[Babe_Williams]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 2:44pm

If you have a few minutes or need somewhere to warm up, The Museum of American Finance is in the vicinity of the NSE and they have a small Alexander Hamilton room with his writings and other mementos. Its only about $5 to get in. At one time, they also had the Hamilton/Burr duel statues exhibited.

[Popular]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 3:20pm

Thanks again for all the great suggestions!

Guess it’s time to plot some of these places down on a map and make a plan.

Feel free to keep adding on with ideas.

[CPB2]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 5:50pm

Fraunces Tavern (& Museum), near the other sites in Lower Manhattan. It's not mentioned by name in the show but "My Shot" and "The Story of Tonight" are basically set there.

[Kaz12]

Posted: 11/16/17 at 12:13am

We have had fun creating a few of our own historical tours over the years whenever we have been in the USA. I’d recommend the following:

Manhattan Downtown

Battery Park

Fraunces Tavern, 54 Pearl Street (lovely spot in front of the fire if it’s cold, great historical meeting place for the revolutionaries)

Trinity Church and graveyard, 75 Broadway (Hamilton, Eliza, Phillip, Angelica Schuyler (Church), and Hercules Mulligan all buried here.

New York Stock Exchange, 11 Wall Street 

Federall Hall, 26 Wall Street

Museum of American Finance, 48 Wall Street (Hamilton Room)

The Room Where it Happened, 57 Maiden Lane (there’s a plaque)

Manhattan Midtown

New York Public Library, 476 Fifth Avenue (have a lot of original Hamilton documents, check for Hamilton exhibition schedules)

New York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West (They did for a time have the famous dueling statues on display, but they have other Hamilton/Burr/Washington artifacts on display, great NY historical exhibitions, and some cool Hamilton stuff in the gift shop.)

Hamilton Statue, Central Park (on East Drive, behind the Metropolitan Museum)

Hamilton Statue, Museum of the City of New York, 1220 5th Ave and 103rd St In the building facade niche facing Central Park (although was removed recently for refurbishment. Not sure when back on display. http://www.mcny.org/statues

Manhattan Uptown

Hamilton Hall and statue, Columbia University, Morningside Heights campus, 116th Street/1130 Amsterdam Ave. 

Morris-Jumel Mansion, 65 Jumel Terrace (Hamilton-Burr history)

Hamilton Grange, 414 West 141st Street on St Nicholas Ave (Hamilton’s last family home) Gift shop and tour (and don’t forget to ask at the desk for directions to the former site of Hamilton Grange, just up the street and right around the corner into Convent Avenue. At 287 Convent Ave, almost forgotten behind an iron fence and tangle of vines, stands New York’s forgotten Hamilton statue, sculpted in 1892 by William Ordway Partridge. The statue was commissioned for the Hamilton Club in Brooklyn Heights, where it stood until 1936, when it was donated to the Grange trust. When Hamilton Grange was uprooted in 2008 and moved around the corner, the statue was never relocated due to lack of funds. Always extra points if you snap this one.)

Off the island

Dueling Grounds
The Weekhawken dueling grounds across the Hudson River are well worth a visit. Not just for the Hamiltonian connection, statue etc. but for the exceptional photo opportunity of Manhattan island, day or night. Don’t do what we did and arrive by ferry at Port imperial, as there is a hysterically high cliff to climb when you get there. We returned to midtown by a bus that came right past the Dueling Grounds on JF Kennedy Blvd E and goes right back to the Port Authority bus terminal on 42nd Street. Takes 15 mins. Bus #165/166 or #128.  Lucky thing too, as we were flying back to Australia that very afternoon. Cutting it a bit fine.

Morristown, NJ
A lovely half day’s tour from Manhattan. About an hour on the train each way, then an easy stroll around the delightful township, site of Washington’s 1777 winter encampment for the Continental Army. So if you go in winter you will really get a sense of what it was like, although apparently it was one of the worst winters in memory. Items of interest: Morristown Green and the lovely statue of Washington, Hamilton and Lafayette in discussion.  The Hamilton-Schuyler mansion, where Hamilton first met and courted Eliza,  (call first to organize a tour), the Ford Mansion and Museum, where Washington/Hamilton etc were encamped. Daily tours of the mansion and museum with lots of historical artifacts).

Philadelphia/Washington DC/Virginia
Several hours by fast train south from NYC gets you to the birthplace of Independence and other revolutionary and Washington/Hamilton/Jefferson-related sites like various homes where they lived (like Mount Vernon and Monticello), The National Treasury, Washington and Jefferson Memorials, Independence Hall etc etc. If you have a day or two up your sleeve I think these are great short trips for those interested in US Independence. Although perhaps winter wouldn’t be the best weather down there. Still, save it for a later trip. We rode bicycles from DC to Mount Vernon in Virginia in the Fall and it was spectacular.

Lots more Hamilton/Independence sites to see. I'm sure I've forgotten some. But these are probably the main ones.