Ting-Li Wang/The New York Times
Stephen Spaulding of the National Park Service is part of the effort to move Alexander Hamilton's country house, the Grange, to St. Nicholas Park.
Posted on 07/12/2006 7:32:14 PM PDT by neverdem
Peering into spaces that have not seen the light of day for two centuries, architectural archaeologists are dissecting Alexander Hamilton’s country home, the Grange, to figure out how to take it apart and put it back together again.
The National Park Service plans to move the Hamilton Grange National Memorial from Convent Avenue and 141st Street, where it is so boxed in by neighboring buildings that two of its porches had to be cut off, to St. Nicholas Park, about 300 feet to the southeast.
There, it can be reassembled in a form that Hamilton would have recognized, with porches — and trees — all around.
Designed by John McComb Jr., an architect of City Hall, the Grange was the seat of a 32-acre Manhattan estate that commanded views of both the Hudson and Harlem Rivers. Hamilton had only two years to enjoy it, however. He left the Grange on the morning of July 11, 1804, for a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr from which he did not return.
Many admirers of the Grange have long hoped to extract the wooden house from its cramped berth between St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, which it once served as a chapel and rectory, and a six-story apartment house. Now, financing for the $8.4 million restoration project seems close.
“We’re delighted that the president put it in the budget and the House of Representatives supported it,” said James Pepper, the superintendent of national parks in Manhattan. Action by the full Senate is pending, he said.
Although the three-story house was moved once before, in 1889, it has not left the original boundaries of the Grange. Its intended destination in the park is within what was once the estate’s southeast corner.
“The aim is to reconstruct the house to its original form as much...,”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Ting-Li Wang/The New York Times
Stephen Spaulding of the National Park Service is part of the effort to move Alexander Hamilton's country house, the Grange, to St. Nicholas Park.
ping list request
bttt
You said Shoot and ole Hamy just jumped in his grave, LOL!!
Best thing to ever happen in NJ.
It's thinkers like Hamilton who would have invented the federal reserve!
"Shoot, he'd be downright giddy to see the massive military and bureaucracy that we have today."
And not surprisingly, a New York City resident.
Every time I read about his duel with Burr, all I can do is be pissed at Burr. Why couldn't he duel with Hamilton during the Revolution or before the Constitutional Convention!?!?!?!
They were friends during the War. They became rivals when they both wanted to be President.
I have heard, alternatively, that they were not ever friends, and the conflict went back far deeper than simple political rivalry.
Regardless, we'd probably have been lucky to lose either of them a bit sooner.
Future cellphone call: "Dude! I just ran into Hamilton's house! No, with my car!"
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