Alexander Macomb House

Alexander Macomb House
Second Presidential Mansion, occupied by George Washington, February - August 1790.
Former names	Mansion House Hotel Bunker's Mansion House Hotel
General information
Address	39-41 Broadway
Town or city	New York, New York
Country	United States
Coordinates	40°42′23″N 74°00′48″W / 40.7063°N 74.0132°W / 40.7063; -74.0132Coordinates: 40°42′23″N 74°00′48″W / 40.7063°N 74.0132°W / 40.7063; -74.0132
Construction started	1786-88
Demolished	1940
Client	Alexander Macomb

The Alexander Macomb House at 39-41 Broadway in Manhattan served as the second Presidential Mansion. President George Washington occupied it from February 23 to August 30, 1790, during New York City's two-year term as the national capital.

Alexander Macomb (1748-1831) was an Irish-born American merchant and land speculator. He built the four-story city house on the west side of Broadway in 1786-88. Macomb leased it to the French Minister Plenipotentiary, the Comte de Moustier, who occupied it until his return to Paris in early 1790. President Washington purchased furniture, mirrors and draperies from the departing Minister with his own money, including American-made furniture in the French style. Some of these items survive at Mount Vernon and elsewhere.^[1]

The first Presidential Mansion was the Samuel Osgood House at 3 Cherry Street^[2] in Manhattan, which Washington occupied from April 23, 1789 to February 23, 1790. He had been living there a week before his April 30, 1789 inauguration as the first President of the United States. The Osgood House (demolished 1856) was in the most congested part of Manhattan, near the port along the East River, and Washington found it cramped for his presidential household. The Macomb House was significantly larger, located in a neighborhood just north of the Bowling Green, with an extraordinary view of the Hudson River out its rear windows.

The Republican Court: Lady Washington's Reception Day by Daniel Huntington (c. 1861). This fanciful painting depicts the Macomb House.^[3]

The presidential household functioned with staff of about 20, composed of wage workers, indentured servants and enslaved servants. Slavery was legal in New York, and Washington brought 7 enslaved Africans from Mount Vernon to work in his presidential household: William Lee, Christopher Sheels, Giles, Paris, Austin, Moll, and Oney Judge.^[4]

Two of Martha Washington's grandchildren were part of the First Family: Nelly Custis (born 1779) and "Wash" Custis (born 1781).

Under the July 1790 Residence Act, the national capital moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for a 10-year period while the permanent national capital was under construction in the District of Columbia. Washington vacated the Macomb House on August 30, 1790, and returned to Mount Vernon, stopping in Philadelphia to examine what was to become the third Presidential Mansion, the President's House in Philadelphia.

In 1821, the Macomb House became Bunker's Mansion House Hotel.^[5]

In 1939, the Daughters of the Revolution erected a bronze plaque at 39 Broadway.^[6]

References

Decatur, Stephen Jr., The Private Affairs of George Washington (1933).
Miller, Agnes. "The Macomb House: Presidential Mansion". Michigan History, vol. 37 (December 1953): 373–384.

↑ "Plain for Its Situation" at www.mountvernon.org
↑ http://www.mountvernon.org/research-collections/digital-encyclopedia/article/presidential-residency-in-new-york/
↑ "Mr. Huntington has in his famous painting of the Republican Court made the Macomb home on Broadway the background of his picture. This was a much more commodious house, to which the President and his family removed in the spring of 1790." Anne Hollingsworth Wharton, Salons Colonial and Republican (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1900), p. 52.
↑ Biographical sketches from www.ushistory.org
↑ "Bunker's Mansion House, a famous hotel, was situated at No. 39 Broadway, and was a large double-brick house, erected in 1786 by General Alexander Macomb as a residence for himself. It was a most comfortable and well-conducted hotel, and was patronized largely by Southern families. Bunker, who was noted for his affability to his customers, grew rich rapidly, and eventually sold the property and retired from business." – James Grant Wilson, A Memorial History of the City of New York (1893), p. 365.
↑ Site of Second Presidential Mansion from Historical Marker Database.

External links

Macomb's Mansion (mlloyd.org).
Herbert, Lilia, The first American: his homes and his households (New York: Harper & brothers, 1900).

George Washington

1st President of the United States, 1789–1797 Senior Officer of the Army, 1798–1799 Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, 1775–1783 Second Continental Congress, 1775 First Continental Congress, 1774

Military career Revolutionary War	Military career French and Indian War Jumonville Glen Battle of Fort Necessity Forbes Expedition Washington and the American Revolution Commander-in-chief, Continental Army Boston campaign Siege of Boston New York and New Jersey campaign Delaware River crossing Battle of Trenton Philadelphia campaign Valley Forge Battles of Saratoga Yorktown campaign Siege of Yorktown Culper spy ring Newburgh Conspiracy Newburgh letter Established, Badge of Military Merit Purple Heart Aides-de-Camp Commander-in-Chief's headquarters Morristown and Ford Mansion Horses: Nelson and Blueskin

Other U.S. founding events	1769 Virginia Association Continental Association 1774 Fairfax Resolves Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture 1785 Mount Vernon Conference Chairman, 1787 Constitutional Convention

Presidency	United States presidential election, 1788–89 1792 First inauguration inaugural bible Second inauguration Title of "Mr. President" Cabinet of the United States Secretary of State Attorney General Secretary of the Treasury Secretary of War Judiciary Act of 1789 Nonintercourse Act Whiskey Rebellion Militia Acts of 1792 Coinage Act of 1792 United States Mint Proclamation of Neutrality Neutrality Act of 1794 Jay Treaty Pinckney's Treaty Slave Trade Act of 1794 Residence Act Thanksgiving Proclamation Farewell Address State of the Union Address 1790 1791 1792 1793 1796 Cabinet Federal judicial appointments

Views and public image	Presidential library The Washington Papers Religious views Washington and slavery Town Destroyer Legacy

Life and homes	Early life Birthplace Ferry Farm boyhood home Mount Vernon Gristmill Woodlawn Plantation Samuel Osgood House, First Presidential Mansion Alexander Macomb House, Second Presidential Mansion President's House, Philadelphia Germantown White House Custis estate Potomac Company James River and Kanawha Canal Mountain Road Lottery Congressional Gold Medal Thanks of Congress President General, Society of the Cincinnati Washington College Washington and Lee University Electoral history of George Washington

Memorials and depictions	Washington, D.C. Washington state Washington Monument Mount Rushmore Washington's Birthday Purple Heart The Apotheosis of Washington George Washington (Houdon) George Washington (Ceracchi) Washington Crossing the Delaware Unfinished portrait Lansdowne portrait The Washington Family portrait Washington at Princeton painting George Washington University Washington University Washington Masonic National Memorial George Washington Memorial Parkway George Washington Bridge Washington and Jefferson National Forests Washington Monument, Baltimore Washington, D.C. statue List of monuments List of places U.S. Postage stamps Washington-Franklin Issues 1932 bicentennial Currency Washington quarter Washington dollar Cultural depictions George Washington (1984 miniseries 1986 sequel)

Related	Bibliography Founding Fathers of the United States Republicanism Federalist Party Federalist Era Virginia dynasty Coat of arms Cherry-tree anecdote River Farm Washington's Crossing 1751 Barbados trip Category Syng inkstand General of the Armies American Philosophical Society American Revolution patriots Mount Vernon Ladies' Association

Ancestry and family	Martha Washington (wife) John Parke Custis (stepson) George Washington Parke Custis (step-grandson, adopted son) Eleanor Parke Custis (step-granddaughter, adopted daughter) Augustine Washington (father) Mary Ball (mother) Lawrence Washington (half-brother) Augustine Washington Jr. (half-brother) Betty Washington Lewis (sister) Samuel Washington (brother) John A. Washington (brother) Charles Washington (brother) Lawrence Washington (grandfather) John Washington (great-grandfather) Bushrod Washington (nephew)

John Adams → Category

Structures on Broadway in Manhattan

1-599 (Battery Pl. - W. Houston St.)	1 Broadway 2 Broadway Bowling Green 26 Broadway (previously occupied by Lautman's Dairy) Cunard Building 52 Broadway Adams Express Building 65 Broadway 1 Wall Street AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company Trinity Church Equitable Building Equitable Life Building Marine Midland Building Zuccotti Park One Liberty Plaza Fulton Center Corbin Building American Surety Building 195 Broadway Astor House Woolworth Building City Hall Park New York City Hall Broadway–Chambers Building 280 Broadway 287 Broadway Appleton Building 359 Broadway 361 Broadway (James S. White Building) 462 Broadway Mechanics' Hall E. V. Haughwout Building New Era Building Scholastic Building Singer Building

600-1499 (W. Houston St. - Times Sq.)	Cable Building Canterbury Hall Grace Church Church of the Messiah Grand Central Hotel 770 Broadway Strand Bookstore Tisch School of the Arts Grace Church Union Square Flatiron Building Madison Square Baudouine Building Gilsey House Grand Hotel Radisson Hotel Martinique Hotel McAlpin Herald Square Haier Building Knickerbocker Theatre Marbridge Building Metropolitan Opera House (former) Rialto Theatre Times Square One Times Square (previously occupied by Pabst Hotel) Condé Nast Building The Knickerbocker Hotel

1500-1800 (Times Sq. - Columbus Cir.)	1500 Broadway (previously occupied by Hotel Claridge) 1501 Broadway One Astor Plaza Astor Theatre Minskoff Theatre New York Marriott Marquis Morgan Stanley Building Palace Theatre Brill Building Winter Garden Theatre Central Theatre Capitol Theatre Ellen's Stardust Diner Paramount Plaza Studebaker Building Broadway Theatre Ed Sullivan Theater 1717 Broadway 1740 Broadway Random House Tower Columbus Circle

North of Columbus Cir.	Museum of Biblical Art Dauphin Hotel Beacon Theatre The Apthorp Bretton Hall Goddard Institute for Space Studies Barnard College Audubon Ballroom United Palace Dyckman House Church of the Good Shepherd

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Alexander Macomb House

See also

References

External links