Hamilton opened on Broadway ten years ago today, on August 6, 2015, and became an overnight blockbuster and won 11 Tony Awards. It’s still performing to sell-out audiences every night.
If you can’t get or can’t afford a ticket you can see Hamilton in NYC for FREE or for less than the price of his picture on a $10 bill, where Alexander Hamilton lived, worked, ate, and died, and where Lin-Manuel Miranda was inspired to write much of the show.
In honor of the Broadway opening anniversary, we are republishing this guide to Hamilton’s life in New York City.
Hamilton Grange National Monument
Hamilton built this Federal-style house in 1801 as a country retreat, back when this part of Manhattan, just north of what is now Harlem, was still farmland.
The floor-to-ceiling windows offer commanding views from the hilltop location, and the surrounding park is lovely.
The neat row houses on the streets around the house were built in the early 20th century on land Hamilton once owned.
The only way to access the historically furnished floor ofHamilton Grange is via FREE tours by National Park Service rangers.
Because of Hamilton’s superstar status, reservations are absolutely recommended.
Hamilton Grange National Monument is at 141st St. and Convent Ave., just north of CUNY. It is closed Monday and Tuesday.
It is one of more than a dozen National Park Service sites in New York City, which include Federal Hall, where George Washington took the oath of office as first US president, and the home where President Theodore Roosevelt was born and raised.
Morris-Jumel Mansion
Built in 1765 as the home of British officer Roger Morris, it served briefly as George Washington’s headquarters during the Revolutionary War, and also as the location for the first Cabinet meetings after 1789, which included Vice President Aaron Burr and his arch-rival Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.
It was purchased in 1810 by French businessman Stephen Jumel, whose widow Eliza married Aaron Burr in the front parlor. A few years later, Burr killed Hamilton in that famous duel.
Close to Hamilton Grange, the Morris-Jumel Mansion is on the National Register of Historic Places, filled with original furniture and artwork, and surrounded by a lovely park.
These days, the house is more famous as the site of “The Room Where it Happens” thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda, who grew up nearby, was inspired here to write the song for the hit musical Hamilton.
Where is Hamilton Buried
Hamilton is buried in Trinity Churchyard, adjoining Trinity Church, in the shadow of the World Trade Center.
Miraculously, both the church and churchyard escaped destruction on September 11, 2011, as did sister church St. Paul’s Chapel and its equally historic churchyard, a few blocks away.
Hamilton, his wife, Eliza, and their eldest son, Philip are buried at Trinity Churchyard, along with other Revolutionary Era notables. One of those is Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat which helped make NYC one of the world’s busiest ports and a world financial center.
That was surely appreciated by Hamilton, who created the American financial system, including a mint with the dollar as currency.
Another notable Revolutionary buried here isJohn Peter Zenger (1697–1746). He is the newspaper publisher whose libel trial helped establish the right to a free press, so central to the democracy known as the United States of America. Zenger and Hamilton were friendly rivals.
Hamilton, who wrote most of the Federalist Papers, also founded the New York Evening Post in 1801. It’s still publishing today, as the New York Post, although more famous today for its celebrity gossip Page Six than for the insightful political articles of Hamilton’s day.
Trinity Church is at 75 Broadway, so – yes – you can tell your friends you really did see Hamilton on Broadway.
Be sure to go inside St Paul’s Chapel to see the pew where George Washington worshipped, and the memorial to 9-11 First Responders with hundreds of badges and other mementos.
St. Paul’s was used as a refuge by First Responders, who often slept on the wooden church pews.
St. Paul’s is on the corner of Vesey St. and Fulton St., named for Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat. Fulton is buried in Trinity Churchyard, near the Hamiltons.
There’s also a Trinity Graveyard and Mausoleum uptown, in Washington Heights, just north of what is now called Hamilton Heights.
Famous souls resting here include naturalist John James Audubon, beloved actor Jerry Orbach, beloved former NYC Mayor Ed Koch, Eliza Bowen Jumel, ex-wife of Aaron Burr.
Another famous New Yorker buried here is Clement Clarke Moore, author of the beloved poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, which begins with the phrase “Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house…”. There’s a reading of the famous poem at Moore’s gravesite each holiday season.
Download the FREE Trinity Church mobile app for a virtual guided tour of all three sites.
More Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton attended Kings College, now Columbia University, on the Upper West Side, as a poor but brilliant immigrant from the Caribbean island of Nevis. There is a statue of him on the campus, unfortunately now off-limits to non-students, faculty or employees without permission.
There also is a film of the Broadway musical, which you can find streaming on Disney Plus.
This guide to Hamilton in NYC was published originally for the show’s fifth anniversary, in 2020, on my former site, NYC on the Cheap, which was hacked and ransomed and destroyed by the hackers in 2022. Some links are from the original article, which has been updated and expanded for publication here.
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is an award-winning journalist with 25+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and author of guidebooks and smartphone apps – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is President Emeritus of the International Motor Press Assn. (IMPA).
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter also is a member of the North American Travel Journalists Assn. (NATJA) and the North American Snowsports Journalists Assn. (NASJA).
Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.
Copyright (C) Evelyn Kanter. Thanks for following ecoXplorer.
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