New York — The newly identified Underground Railroad corridor, once used by slaves escaping to freedom, shines a spotlight on the New York City Museum and its fight against a proposed adjacent development.
Museum staff at the Merchant’s House — an upper-class family home built in 1832 in Manhattan’s NoHo district — revealed last month that researchers can now explain the passage’s historical purpose because they recently discovered that the home’s original owner was an abolitionist. Black historians and activists hailed it as the first “intact” Underground Railroad site to be found in New York in more than 160 years.
The discovery has led to a significant increase in foot traffic at the museum, along with hopes of avoiding the potential construction of a nine-story mixed-use building next door because its construction would damage the walls and foundation of the adjacent historic site.
“What our engineers are saying is that there is no real way to build a building of this size directly next to the museum without causing significant structural damage to our historic building,” said Emily Hale-Wright, director of museum operations.
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is considering whether to approve the development. Consultants and architects working on the project say the museum should not be severely affected.
The unveiling of the newly cleared corridor comes as an executive order is being used by President Donald Trump to remove it References and images of slavery From the nation Museums, parks and landmarks.
New York-based civil rights activist Al Sharpton described the fate of the Merchant House Museum as a battle for black and American history.
“When engineers tell me an African American heritage site is at risk of structural settlement or other type of irreparable damage, I listen,” Sharpton said in a statement last week.
The Merchant’s House Underground Railroad passage is located beneath a 2-by-2-foot wooden opening hidden beneath a walk-in closet staircase in the second floor lobby. It descends on a 15-foot (4.5 m) pole with a built-in ladder. The passage was first found in the 1930s when the house was converted into a museum, but it was not revealed that the house’s first owner, Joseph Brewster, was an abolitionist until 2024.
“It’s not a pickup truck. It’s not a wash chute,” Hill-Wright said. “We’re able to write off all these other theories about what this might have been used for.”
The findings have attracted conservationists, history buffs and the general public.
“February was the highest month for visitors in over a year,” Hill-Wright said. “You almost feel suffocated, because it’s a very profound experience to see it with your own eyes.”
The underground railway network was created by Harriet Tubmanwho herself escaped slavery in 1849 and ended up living in Philadelphia. The operation is credited with facilitating the escape of many enslaved black men and women. Tubman used her experiences as a scout, spy, and nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War and personally directed 150 black soldiers on a gunboat raid in South Carolina.
At the time the Brewster House was built, it was against the law in New York City to help someone through the subway. Jacob Morris, director of the Harlem Historical Society, said there would have been “severe penalties.” There are documented cases of abolitionists being attacked for protecting runaway slaves.
“Bounty hunters were everywhere in New York City,” Morris said. “They made their living hunting black people searching for freedom.” “If you were caught helping black people escape slavery, a mob might come and burn your house and beat you. Maybe even tar and feather it or worse.”
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Tang reported from Phoenix.