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Fraunces Tavern Turns 253 Today
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 15, 2015
Modified Jan 15, 2015
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Courtesy of Frances Tavern Museum
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 15, 2015
Modified Jan 15, 2015
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It is unbelievable that a building, nevermind a business, has remained open on the same Manhattan street corner for over 200 years. But when the business is beer, business is usually good. City Room reminds us that Fraunces Tavern was opened on this day in 1762 by Samuel Fraunces, inside of a circa-1719 building at 54 Pearl Street, but back then it was called Queen's Head Tavern. The building has survived multiple fires, a bombing, and most surprisingly: a growing New York City with rising rents.
It did not, however, escape criticism when undergoing renovations in 1906—one man wrote a rather creative letter to the New York Times, expressing his concern. It said, in part:
"I was crossing Union Square Plaza the other day, and on passing the Washington statue I thought I heard a loud sobbing... I said: 'Why weepest thou?' He said: 'Hast been to Fraunces's Tavern lately and witnessed the scoundrelly piece of vandalism that they have perpetrated upon that hallowed building, with whose walls I embraced my loved comrades?'"
Ch-ch-ch-changes. (Courtesy of Frances Tavern Museum)
George Washington, you see, was a regular at Fraunces Tavern, like way before you even heard of it. The Times letter-writer continued:
"I wended my way toward the Battery to see for myself... when I reached there how I reproached myself for having gone, for such destruction as I witnessed is deplorable. The whole interior of the building has been torn out, the quaint stairway removed, the long room and the little nooks made way with, and even the major part of the exterior walls removed. How can men or women, who are pledged to preserve evidences of our country's history, give their consent to such destructive work?"
Menu upon reopening in 1907. (NYPL)
This went on for decades, and in 1965 former NY Times architecture critic, Ada Louise Huxtable, called the Tavern neither "old, nor authentic," but rather "a modern copy created by scholarly guesswork on some old bones." Let's just be happy it's not a Duane Reade?
There were more renovations to come at the Tavern, most recently in 2010/2011, so this is certainly a "grandfather's axe" situation—but let's just say that regardless of the changes, Fraunces Tavern is still Fraunces Tavern. And today is its 253rd birthday. So drop by for their happy hour, and drink where, in 1783, George Washington bade farewell to his officers after British troops evacuated New York.
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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