The Historic House Trust of New York City was formed in 1989 as a public-private partnership with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation[1] to preserve the historic houses located within New York City parks,[2] although most of the houses were not originally city-owned.[3] The Trust works with the individual houses to restore and promote the houses as a means of educating residents and visitors about the social, economic and political history of New York City and cast urban history in a new light.[4] The Trust includes 23 historic sites, with 18 operating as museums and attracting 729,000 annual visitors.[2]
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The Historic House Trust includes properties in each of New York City's five boroughs,[5] and there is a house for every period in the City's history, depending on one's scheme of dividing history.[4] A number of the properties have live-in caretakers to help prevent vandalism and other problems.[6]
Landmark name |
Image | Built | Borough | Description |
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Alice Austen House Museum | 1690 | Staten Island |
Home of photographer Alice Austen. Now a museum. | |
Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum | 1836 | The Bronx |
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The Conference House | 1675 | Staten Island |
The Staten Island Peace Conference was held here on September 11, 1776, which unsuccessfully attempted to end the American Revolutionary War. The house, a National and New York City Landmark, is the only pre-Revolutionary manor house still surviving in New York City. | |
Dyckman Farmhouse Museum | 1784 | Manhattan |
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Gracie Mansion | 1799 | Manhattan |
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Historic Richmond Town | December 1, 1000 | Staten Island |
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King Manor Museum | December 1, 1000 | Queens |
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Kingsland Homestead | 1785 | Queens |
Home to the remains of a weeping beech tree that was one of New York City's two "living landmarks"[7] and the 'matriarch' of such trees in the United States[8] | |
Lewis H. Latimer House | December 1, 1000 | Queens |
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Lefferts Historic House | 1777 | Brooklyn |
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The Little Red Lighthouse | December 1, 1000 | Manhattan |
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Hendrick I. Lott House | 1720 | Brooklyn |
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Merchant's House Museum | December 1, 1000 | Manhattan |
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Morris-Jumel Mansion | December 1, 1000 | Manhattan |
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The Old Stone House | December 1, 1000 | Brooklyn |
A 1930 reconstruction with some original materials of the Vechte-Cortelyou House which was destroyed in 1897. The site was part of the Battle of Long Island. It also housed the predecessors to the Brooklyn Dodgers at one time. | |
Edgar Allan Poe Cottage | December 1, 1000 | The Bronx |
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Queens County Farm Museum | December 1, 1000 | Queens |
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Seguine Mansion | December 1, 1000 | Staten Island |
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Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre | December 1, 1000 | Manhattan |
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Valentine-Varian House | 1758 | The Bronx |
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Van Cortlandt House Museum | 1758 | The Bronx |
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The Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum | December 1, 1000 | Brooklyn |
In 1988, the City Parks department established a Historic House Office to preserve the 16 City-owned historic house-museums located in City parks. This office gave way to the Historic House Trust of New York City in 1989, funded by private donations,[9] as well as grants,[10] with the goal of each house becoming a professionally-accredited museum.[11] In an effort to increase awareness of the program during its first year of operation, the Trust developed a so-called passport program wherein visitors would receive stamps each time they visited one of the houses. If a visitor went to all 15 properties, they would receive an audience with the Mayor.[12] HHT's passport program was brought back in 2008 as a method of commemorating the Trust's 20th anniversary.[13]
The Trust also holds events such as the Historic Houses Festival, during which all the houses are open with different events at each, in order to raise awareness.[9] New properties are added to the Trust when they come under city control if private care-taking or ownership has not succeeded,[14] although the contents of the home may remain under private ownership.[15]