An Alexander Hamilton-themed walking tour of Manhattan’s Financial District offers more insight into Hamilton’s life than Lin Manuel-Miranda’s Broadway musical.
Key Alexander Hamilton sites in New York City
- The Trinity Church graveyard.
- The Museum of American Finance in the Bank of New York building.
- Federal Hall.
- Hamilton Park in Jersey City.
- The Richard Rodgers Theatre.
Want to skip the history and tour review? Then you can buy an Alexander Hamilton-themed walking tour here. Otherwise, read on…
Alexander Hamilton’s tomb
It’s fitting that the tomb is in the graveyard of the Trinity Church, possibly one of the richest parish churches on earth. The Trinity still owns staggering amounts of land in New York, a happy accident resulting from simply having been there long enough. The tomb itself is a stout, imposing beast with a mini-obelisk on top and “The STATESMAN of consummate wisdom” engraved in the stone.
It’s not a bad effort for a fatherless boy who was born penniless on the Caribbean island of Nevis, then arrived in New York on a scholarship. Alexander Hamilton went on the become George Washington’s right-hand man during the Revolutionary War, and became the architect of the US financial system afterwards.
Hamilton and Manhattan’s Financial District
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash hit musical at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, still arguably the hottest ticket on Broadway, has catapulted Hamilton to prominence. But the most apt tribute is neither the tomb nor the musical – it’s the Financial District, which clusters around Wall Street.
This batch of banks, stockbrokers and insurance companies in Lower Manhattan has been the driving force behind the US’ rise from ragtag collection of colonies to the world’s only superpower. And Hamilton played a phenomenally large part in this.
The Bank of New York Building
The Museum of American Finance on Wall Street is inside the Bank of New York building – which is the oldest bank in the city, and was founded by… Alexander Hamilton.
The museum goes into how money makes the world go round, looking at everything from fraud to the Federal Reserve. But it also has a room dedicated to Hamilton that runs through his life and work.
He was the country’s first Treasury Secretary after independence, and in that stint he created the US Mint, the Customs Department, the tax system, the coast guard (which had much more to do with stopping smugglers than saving drowning people) and the country’s first central bank.
Alexander Hamilton and the dollar
In a country riddled with debt after the War of Independence, he decided to get things moving again by having the federal government take responsibility for all state and national debts. He also made the dollar a proper currency – it was a makeshift affair mainly using Spanish coins at the time.
But all of this was controversial, and trade-offs had to be made in order for Hamilton to get it through. And one of those trade-offs is the reason why New York is not the US capital. Federal Hall in Manhattan was the first capitol building of the US, but New York didn’t stay the centre of political power for long. Having a purpose-built capital further south was a sop thrown to the southern plantation owners who didn’t want the north-east of the fledgling country to dominate.
The location of Hamilton’s duel
Hamilton’s modern-day resurgence, though, isn’t just down to his work. He was, to put it mildly, a colourful character. And one that was, somewhat ironically, terrible at managing his own finances. When he died, he left his wife and child with a mountain of debt.
But, of course, that’s partly because he died earlier than expected. Hamilton was the loser in America’s most infamous duel. Years of rivalry with former vice-president Aaron Burr, culminated in the pair facing off on the other side of the Hudson River in Weehawken, New Jersey. Now called Hamilton Park, and found in downtown Jersey City, it was where Hamilton’s son had been killed in a duel three years previously.
The duel did not go well. Hamilton shot in the air, thought to be a sign that he had no intent to kill. Burr had no such niceties in mind, and mortally wounded his opponent. The boulder that Hamilton rested on as he was dying still exists – it was moved to what is now Hamilton Street, where it sits next to a bust of the architect of American finance. It’s largely ignored – no one has seen fit to make a song and dance about it…
Book your Alexander Hamilton tour
Alexander Hamilton walking tours can be booked online.
More New York City travel
Other New York City travel articles on Planet Whitley include:
- The mistake not to make on a Statue of Liberty tour.
- Stories of Nolita on the Catacombs by Candlelight tour.
- New York City city slavery and underground tour review.
Disclosure: This article includes affiliate links. Book through them, and I earn a small commission.
