The New York City Traveler

History is alive at every corner in Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C., but “Old New York” barely exists anymore.  There is one standout exception, one of the last existing buildings from New York’s golden age of commerce still stands and is open to visitors: Merchant’s House Museum.   

The Merchant’s House Museum is a restored 19th-century row house that is located in the now eclectic East Village.  The house, built in 1832, was the former residence of the Tredwells, a prosperous merchant family.

The architecture of the house is considered a transitional architectural style.  The outside is in the federal style while the inside is one of the best examples of Greek-revival style in the United States.  

Much of the family’s personal effects and memorabilia fill the house.  Furniture, unfinished needlework, and family photographs are displayed in the house, leaving the house as one would have found it in the 1800s. 

The Treadwells lived in the house for nearly 100 years and the final member of the family, Gertrude, passed in an upstairs bedroom in 1933, lending credibility to the urban legend that the house is haunted.  Opened as a museum in 1936, Merchant’s House Museum has survived as the only material link to the ever-important 19th-century era when New York City marine commerce flourished. 

Location: Merchant’s House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street, (map) 212-777-1089

Subway: N, R to 8th Street; 6 to Astor Place

Hours:  Monday, Thursday-Sunday Noon-5pm.  Closed Monday and Tuesday. 

Cost:  $8 adults, $5 Students & seniors 65+

Check out last week’s Museum Monday post on the National Museum of the American Indian.  Museum Monday continues next week with a post on the Museum at the Fashion Institute of America (FIT).

Photo credit (top to bottom): flickr; flickr 

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