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Small Group New York City History and Food Tours

New Tour Alert! SWEETS AND SCREAMS: A SUGARY SWEET GHOST WALK OF GREENWICH VILLAGE

Discover Landmarks, Architecture, and Artifacts of Historic Downtown (Pt. 3)

A Hunt for a Neighborhood’s Heritage Treasures

Imagine a walk that compactly retraces a city’s evolution. A concentrated timeline along historical roads less traveled. Where we discover the key role of New York Harbor in converging a fledgling Dutch colonial outpost with an island’s Lenape Villages; where we explore the strategic maneuverings of a conquering British Empire alongside the covert activities of the Revolutionary War; where we experience the endeavors at governance of a new nation. And where we imagine a fledgling municipality’s grand visions of foundational urban planning, engineering innovations and financial restructurings, as waves of immigrants would expand cultural boundaries and heritage landscapes.

Historic Downtown is one such treasured destination, teeming with perspectives brought to life by its many characters and lives revealed, as we meander through ancient paths that acknowledge their presence. For discerning individuals on the hunt for long sought insights on the forces driving the evolution of New York City, a neighborhood walk is not only an essential, but an indulgence. Be we longtime residents, first-time visitors or settling newcomers, we come away with the myths and legends of this metropolis’ origins, the secrets of the United States’ foundational past. The hidden legends behind street names and places, forgotten stories buried with unearthed, archaeological sites, and, in true NYC evolutionary fashion, how the Charging Bull has become the most iconic structure redefining the neighborhood’s prestige.

Here we present a few selected valuables packing a far-more abundant chest of heritage-treasures … all from which our inner-adventurer (or perpetual-child in constant quest of wonder) can deeply extract to a heart’s content. With so much more that compels, a scouting pursuit for heritage treasures can prove to be an ongoing source of fascination — be this on your own, or among family and friends! As attentions are engaged and curiosities aroused for a hunt, here are some leads to get you off to a good start. Let us know what you’ve discovered that we overlooked or missed, coaxing us all into countless revisits and walks for more …

 

Archaeological Sites/Artifacts or Objects of Note

For those intrigued by decoding unearthed sites and remnants of past lives

  • C/O NPS.gov

    Excavated Site of Lovelace Tavern at Stadt Huys

  • The Colonial-era Fence of Bowling Green
  • The Bridewell Prison Marker by City Hall
  • George Washington’s Inauguration Bible at Federal Hall
  • The Long Room at Fraunces Tavern Museum
  • Ancestral Remains at the African Burial Ground

 

Architecture

For those fascinated by a city’s evolving styles, reflecting cultural legacies over centuries.

  • St Paul’s Chapel (Georgian, 1766)
  • Fraunces Tavern (Colonial Revival, 1719, 1763, 1907)
  • City Hall (Georgian, Renaissance Revival, 1811)
  • Federal Hall (Greek Revival, 1842)
  • Trinity Church (Gothic Revival, 1846)
  • Stone Street Rowhouses (neo-Dutch Renaissance, Greek Revival, late-1830s)
  • C/O Newyorkitecture.com

    New York Stock Exchange(Classic Revival, 1903)

  • U.S. Custom House (Beaux-Art, 1907)
  • Woolworth Building (Gothic Revival, 1913)
  • Equitable Building (Neoclassical; 1913)
  • 1 Wall Street (Art Deco, 1929)
  • 40 Wall Street (Neo-gothic, 1930)

 

Art

For those allured by the range of visual, literary, and performance arts.

  • Cathedral Glass (Early-American Stained Glass, unknown artist, 1846)
  • Trinity Gate (Sculpture by Karl Bitter, Trinity Church, 1893)
  • Four Continents (Sculptures by Daniel Chester French, U.S. Custom House, 1907 )
  • Civic Fame (Sculpture atop Municipal Building by Adolph A. Weinman, 1913)
  • WPA Maritime Murals (Dome Paintings by Reginald Marsh, U.S. Custom House, 1937)
  • The Castello Plan Map of New Amsterdam (Sculpture at Peter Minuit Plaza by Simon Verity, 2010)

 

Beliefs

For those drawn to rituals in temples of worship, symbols in stone, traditions in communities.

  • The Ark at St. Paul’s Chapel
  • Stained Glass Windows of Trinity Church
  • Gravestone Headstones at Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel
  • Mortuary Practices in African Burial Ground
  • Emmet Obelisk at St. Paul’s Chapel Churchyard
  • The Ground Zero Cross at the 9/11 Memorial Museum

 

Crafts

For those enthralled by overlooked skills of woodcarvers, glassmakers, bricklayers, masons, and more.

  • Schist and Brownstone on St Paul’s Chapel
  • Dutch Brickwork on Fraunces Tavern
  • Stained Glass Windows of Trinity Church
  • Cobbled Stonework on Stone Street
  • Terra Cotta Masonry on Woolworth Building
  • Guastavino Vaults at Municipal Building and U.S. Custom House

 

Food Heritage

For those tempted to savor the neighborhood’s culinary history

  • Stone Street
  • Fraunces Tavern
  • Delmonico’s
  • South Street Seaport

 

Landmarks

For those captivated by landmarks that define and signify milestones

  • C/O Fraunces Tavern Museum

    Statue of Liberty

  • Ellis Island
  • Custom House
  • Fraunces Tavern
  • Stone Street
  • Federal Hall
  • NYSE
  • Trinity Church
  • St. Paul’s Chapel
  • City Hall
  • Woolworth Building
  • Municipal Building
  • Newspaper Row
  • NYSE
  • Broadway

 

Infrastructure

For those lured into the design and engineering of public works

  • Brooklyn Bridge
  • South Street Seaport
  • Croton Fountain Marker at City Hall
  • Pier A and Waterfront Piers
  • The Abandoned City Hall Subway Station
  • Oculus Transportation Hub

 

Leisure

For those entertained by celebrations of games, parades, holidays, sports, and all things festive.

  • Canyon of Heroes

 

Monuments, Markers, Memorials

For those gripped by overlooked stories on building markers, sidewalk plaques, monuments

  • The Sphere and 9/11 Memorial at World Trade Center
  • The Bell of Hope at St. Paul’s Chapel
  • Famine-era Stone Cottage at the Irish Hunger Memorial
  • The Sidewalk Plaques of the Canyon of Heroes
  • Grave of John Holt at St. Paul’s Chapel
  • Statue of Nathan Hale in City Hall Park
  • Netherlands Monument in Battery Park
  • The Immigrants in Battery Park

 

Myths, Legends, Oral Histories, Traditional Knowledge

For those entranced by forgotten tales behind street names, official seals, neighborhood rituals.

  • The Oysters of Pearl Street
  • The Fur Trade behind Beaver Street
  • The Paving of Stone Street
  • The Symbolic Flag and Seal of the City of New York
  • The Native American Place Names of New York City

 

Nature

For those enchanted by the impact of waterways, minerals, stones, flora, fauna, animals, birds

  • Hudson River
  • East River
  • Peregrine Falcons
  • Oysters
  • Beavers

 

We welcome you to join us for a tour of Historic Downtown to dig deeper into the yet-unearthed of both Lower Manhattan’s tangible and intangible assets. Its stories are further woven into continuing narratives at nearby neighborhoods of Chinatown and South Street Seaport, which we invite you to further explore. Should wanderings inspire readings, complement your strolls with a few select books introducing overviews of Historic Downtown and its legacies:

 

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