Between 18, the building was improved to become a five-story tenement, so John and his family moved upstairs over the bar. Way back then, it was considered an Irish working man’s saloon, with cheese and crackers on the house and beer selling for pennies. It opened in 1824, by the Irish immigrant John McSorley. McSorley’s is perhaps New York’s most well-known historic bar. McSorley’s by (vincent desjardins) via Flickr/Creative Commons And though it’s no longer mobbed by sailors, Ear Inn picked up some ghosts along the way, including Mickey, who’s been patiently waiting for his clipper ship to come into the harbor for the past 100 years. ![]() They simply covered the round parts of the long-standing neon “BAR” sign, leaving it to read “EAR.” With the exception of the name change, the two-and-a-half story Federal style townhouse remains virtually untouched since its 1770 beginnings. Current owners Martin Sheridan and Richard “Rip” Hayman decided to call it The Ear Inn to avoid the Landmark Preservation Commission’s review process of new signage. The bar got its unique name in the 1970s. The upstairs of the townhouse has served as everything from a boarding house to smuggler’s den to brothel to doctor’s office. After prohibition, it reopened to the public with no name–just with a reputation as “a lady-free clubhouse for sailors to eat, drink, gamble,” according to the Ear Inn website. During Prohibition, the bar became a speakeasy. Then, by the early 1900s, the spot was selling food with a dining room constructed where the backyard and outhouse once stood. (Brown is said to be depicted in the famous Emmanuel Leutze painting of Washington’s Delaware River crossing.) Due to its location just a few blocks from the Hudson River, the bar became a popular spot with sailors and dock workers as the waterfront exploded with new piers built to facilitate constant shipping traffic.Īfter Brown passed away, Thomas Cooke took over the building and began selling sold home-brewed beer and crocks of corn whiskey to the constant wave of sailors in the mid 1800s. The building was constructed around 1770 for James Brown, an African aide to George Washington during the Revolutionary War. The Ear Inn by Susan Sermoneta, via Flickr/Creative CommonsĮar Inn also ranks as one of the oldest operating drinking establishments in the city. And since 1907, the second and third floors of the building have held the Fraunces Tavern Museum, a collection of paintings and artifacts preserved during the building’s long history. You can still grab a drink and a meal at the tavern once frequented by George Washington. The building was declared a landmark in 1965. purchased the building in 1904 and carried out a major reconstruction, claiming it as Manhattan’s oldest surviving building. After outcry from the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York Inc. Numerous fires changed the building throughout the years, and in 1900, the tavern was slated for demolition by its owners to build a parking lot. Fraunces Tavern between the 1890 alteration and the 1900 restoration, via the Fraunces Tavern Museum
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