Fraunces Tavern

Fraunces Tavern

George Washington bid farewell to his troops in the second-floor dining room of this stately Georgian tavern in 1783, when the British finally relinquished control of New York City. (Built several decades before as a residence, the structure was bought by Washington’s steward, Samuel Fraunces, and transformed into a place for eating and drinking very much like the one we see today.) The site fell into disrepair over the course of the nineteenth century, but was restored faithfully from 1904-1907 by the Sons of the American Revolution, in what is considered the first act of historical preservationism in the modern era. (Some purists quibble with the details of the restoration; to our eyes, the structure is beyond reproach). The formidable kitchen still turns out colonial era-staples like beef Wellington, Cornish hen, and crab cakes; the second floor now houses a spotty but engaging museum of eighteenth and nineteenth century American history.