C R I B S – Alexander Hamilton
Bringing everyone up to speed in case you were Amish in 2016, Alexander Hamilton is as socially relevant and as much of a Sex Symbol as Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson and thank God, it became kind of cool to have a legitimate and outward obsession with the Founding Fathers. New flash to anyone who blacked out during high school history: New York City is teeming with rich history from the Revolution; from the British landing on Kip’s Bay, to the execution of Nathan Hale, to Washington’s tearful Farewell Dinner (where the Lawtons intentionally celebrate Easter). Recently, I had to schlep up to Hamilton Heights so I went early to awkwardly lurk around Hamilton Grange & soak up my daily dose of Americana.
If you sold your first born and saw Hamilton or if you’ve listened to the album ~1,000 times, you know the story. Alexander Hamilton perpetually struggled financially yet he and his wife Eliza refused to ask her affluent family for assistance. Even though he was deeply in debt, Hamilton purchased fifteen acres in Harlem Heights to build his first home, aptly named “The Grange” after his ancestral home in Scotland. The home was completed in 1802, two years before his fateful dual with Aaron Burr.
As the story tragically goes, in 1804 Eliza lost both her husband and her father and her life was thrown into tumult: she was left to pay all of her husband’s debts while raising their family, the youngest child being two years old. With the inheritance from her father’s passing, she was able to repurchase The Grange as it had been sold in public auction. Further, she petitioned the US government to reissue Alexander’s army pension that he had waived. In 1837, through a special act of Congress, she received the $30,000 pension to further put towards the home.
In 1889, after exchanging hands multiple times, the Hamilton Grange was acquired by St. Lukes’ Episcopal Church and moved 250 feet in order to be saved from demolition. Such was a standing order from the city, as a new grid system throughout Manhattan was being enforced.
In 2008, the National Parks moved The Grange to its third and final location, on the northern end of St. Nicholas Park across from Hamilton Terrace. The Parks department spent $14.5 million to rehabilitate and restore the building to its original form. The Grange reopened in 2011, featuring all the specifications and ornamentation experienced by Hamilton in 1802.
