HHT's Historic Manhattan Bike Ride

Jan Dyckman established a farm near the northern tip of Manhattan in the 1660s. After its destruction in the Revolutionary War, William Dyckman, Jan’s grandson, replanted the land and built this Farmhouse around 1784. Constructed mostly of fieldstone and clapboard, it features sloping spring eaves, wide porches, and a simple brick facade facing the street. The small home served three generations of the Dyckman family until 1868. As the character of the neighborhood changed from rural to urban, the old Farmhouse slid into disrepair.

In 1915, Mary Alice Dyckman Dean and Fannie Fredericka Dyckman Welch, daughters of the last Dyckman to grow up in the house, bought the building and worked with their husbands, curator Bashford Dean and architect Alexander McMillan Welch, to restore it. The sisters sought to preserve and exhibit not just a family relic but an entire way of life. They filled the rooms with objects that evoked their vision of New York’s Dutch heritage. In the garden, a fieldstone smokehouse was added and a half-timbered wood hut—originally built in the area by Hessian mercenaries during the Revolutionary War—was reconstructed. When the restoration was completed in 1916, the house and grounds were donated to the City of New York as a museum of early American life. Today, education programs continue the sisters’ goal of preserving the past for future generations.

Address
Dyckman Farmhouse Museum
4881 Broadway at 204th Street
New York, NY 10034
(212) 304-9422

Directions
Subway: A or #1 to 207th Street.
Bus: M100 to 204th St.

Hours
Wed-Sat 11am-4pm.
Sun 12-4:00pm.
Closed Monday and Tuesday

Admission
Adults $1, Free for children under 10.
Reservations required for groups of 10 or more.

Illustrated by Lynd Ward, this tale of the friendship between the tiny beacon and the George Washington Bridge introduced children around the world to the red, round, and very, very proud little lighthouse in New York.

Built in 1880, the 40-foot tower was moved in 1921 to Jeffrey’s Hook, a rocky point on the Hudson River near Manhattan’s northern edge. The Lighthouse warned ships away from the shore as they made their way down the narrow channel between New York and New Jersey.

However, when construction of the George Washington Bridge was completed in 1931, the brilliant lights of the bridge’s 600-foot towers overwhelmed the little Lighthouse. In 1947, it was officially decommissioned and abandoned, and by 1951, the Little Red Lighthouse was slated for demolition – its cast-iron shell to be sold for scrap.

Hearing this news, thousands of children who had loved Swift’s book started a nationwide campaign to save the Little Red Lighthouse. Thanks in part to their efforts, ownership of the Lighthouse was transferred from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

Today, visitors climb a long, iron stair to the top of the tower, where the lantern room is again fitted with a working lens that blinks proudly at cargo barges and passenger ships sailing under the George Washington Bridge.

Address
Little Red Lighthouse
Fort Washington Park, 178th Street and the Hudson River, Manhattan
For a schedule of tours, call 311 and ask for the Urban Park Rangers.

Directions
Subway: A train to 181st St. and walk west to Plaza Lafayette.
Cross the footbridge and take a left down the path under the overpass.
Cross over the railroad tracks and follow the path to the left (south).
The lighthouse is almost directly under the George Washington Bridge.

Hours
For information about visiting the lighthouse, please call the Urban Park Rangers at (212) 304-2365.

During the decade before the Revolutionary War, the Georgian house, with its monumental portico and octagonal drawing room, was the setting for some of the colony’s most fashionable parties.

In the fall of 1776, the Mansion was seized by the Continental Army and served as headquarters for George Washington during the Battle of Harlem Heights. British and Hessian commanders occupied the house after Washington’s retreat from New York.

In the summer of 1790, Washington returned to the Mansion and dined with the members of his cabinet. Among those at the table were Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Henry Knox.

In 1810, wealthy French wine merchant Stephen Jumel and his American wife, Eliza, purchased the Mansion, and spared no expense refurbishing it. In 1828, they returned from Paris with crates of furniture and paintings, much of which they claimed had belonged to Napoleon. A year after Stephen Jumel died in 1832, his widow married former vice president Aaron Burr. The marriage ended quickly and Eliza lived alone in the house until her death in 1865.

Opened as Washington’s Headquarters by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1904, the Mansion has served as a museum for more than a century. Today, the Mansion features restored period rooms from the Morris, Washington, and Jumel eras.

Morris-Jumel Mansion is owned by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, operated by Morris-Jumel Mansion Inc., and is a member of the Historic House Trust.

Address
Morris-Jumel Mansion Museum
Roger Morris Park
65 Jumel Terrace at 160th Street
New York, NY 10032
(212) 923-8008
morrisjumel.org

Directions
Subway: C to 160th Street
Bus: M2 to 160th Street and Edgecombe Avenue; M3 or M18 to 160th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue; M101 to 161st Street and Amsterdam Avenue (walk one block east)

Hours
Wed-Sun: 10am - 4pm.
Mon & Tues: by appointment.

Admission
Adults: $4.00, Students & seniors: $3.00

Constructed in Sweden of native pine and cedar, the model schoolhouse was dismantled, packed in crates, and shipped across the Atlantic, then re-erected by Swedish craftsmen on the Exposition grounds. Furnished with desks and chalkboards, and staffed by Swedish teachers, the popular pavilion welcomed many visitors.

Impressed by the ornament and utility of the Swedish School House, Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of Central Park, secured an appropriation from the City of New York to purchase it. In 1877, the little building was dismantled once again, and reconstructed on the west side of the Park.

In 1939, New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses created a touring marionette theater to perform on playgrounds during the summer and in school auditoriums during the winter. Eight years later, in 1947, the troupe moved into the Swedish School House, which thereafter served as its workshop and headquarters. In 1973, the interior of the building was redesigned to incorporate a small theater for indoor marionette performances, as well as space for the traveling theater.

Painstakingly restored in 1996, the building retains much of its original 19th-century materials, including the patterned shingles, simple hardware, and hand-rubbed interior paneling. Audiences continue to enjoy marionette performances of classic tales. Talented craftsmen make marionettes for each production, contributing to the archive of historic marionettes every year.

Address
Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre
Central Park 79th Street and West Drive
Manhattan, New York 10023
(212) 988-9093

Directions
Subway: 1 to 79th Street; B or C to 81st Street
Bus: M79 to Central Park West

Hours
Hours subject to change, please call for the latest schedule and reservations. Reservations are required for all shows.

Admission
Adult $8; Children $5; School groups and non-profit organizations $4.50

Complete with the family’s original furnishings and personal possessions, the house offers a rare and intimate glimpse of domestic life during the significant era of the 19th-century when New York City was transformed from a colonial seaport into a thriving metropolis.

Period rooms display the family’s furniture from New York’s best cabinetmakers, high-style decorative objects, china and glassware, utilitarian household items, as well as clothing, books, and other personal memorabilia. The late-Federal and Greek Revival building is among the finest surviving examples of the architecture of the period. Highlights include the formal Greek Revival double parlors with black-and-gold marble mantelpieces, Ionic columns, mahogany pocket doors, and elaborate ornamental plasterwork. Matching gas chandeliers from the 1830s hang from the 13-foot ceilings.

The Museum’s collection of 19th-century costumes and textiles is among the most significant in New York City and includes more than 30 dresses from the 1820s to the 1880s documented as having belonged to the Tredwell women.

The Museum offers educational programs on 19th-century life and culture for adults and schoolchildren, and hosts guided tours, lectures, readings, concerts, exhibitions, performances, and other events throughout the year.

Address
Merchant's House Museum
29 East Fourth Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 777-1089

Directions
Subway: R/W to 8th Street or #6 to Astor Place
Bus: M5, M6 to Broadway/4th Street; M102 to 4th Street; M1 to Broadway/8th Street

Hours
Thu-Mon: 12pm - 5pm.
Group and school tours by appointment.

Admission
Adults: 8.00; Students & Seniors: 5.00; Historic House Trust Members: Free.