Underground Railroad passageway discovered hidden inside Manhattan museum
The passageway was found in the Merchant’s House Museum, formerly the home of Joseph Brewster, after drawers from a built-in dresser were removed to reveal a concealed shaft behind it.
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A long-hidden escape route believed to be part of the Underground Railroad has been discovered inside a historic home in Manhattan, revealing what experts call one of the last intact shelter points of its kind in New York City.
The passageway was found in the Merchant’s House Museum, formerly the home of Joseph Brewster, after drawers from a built-in dresser were removed to reveal a concealed shaft behind it. The narrow space, about 2 feet by 2 feet wide, and roughly 15-feet deep, connects an upstairs bedroom to the home’s kitchen two stories below.
Preservation attorney Michael S. Hiller said the discovery is extraordinary.
“This is the first intact shelter point of the Underground Railroad found in Manhattan in over 160 years,” Hiller said. “And it’s probably the last of its kind.”
While the passageway was discovered in the 1930s, the use was a mystery, until recently revealed documents showed the home's original owner as a member of an abolitionist group, even ordering the construction of a similar passage at a since-demolished church in the neighborhood.
The hidden passage sits inside what was once one of the wealthiest homes in the neighborhood.
Walking through the bedroom today, there is no obvious sign that a secret route is tucked behind the walls, exactly how it was designed.
The structure, tucked behind two cabinets, flush with the wall, and hidden by a cover underscores the risks taken by both the people fleeing slavery and those who helped them.
“If a property owner had been discovered harboring runaway slaves, they could be set upon, attacked and even killed,” Hiller said.
“People don’t know that New York City was pro-slavery,” Czerkowicz said. “And people were kidnapped right off of these streets,” said Camille Czerkowicz, the museum’s collection manager.
The passageway ends in the kitchen, where those seeking freedom may have been brought into the house or moved discreetly between floors. Local leaders who climbed into the tight space during Thursday's exhibition said the experience was sobering.
“It’s a feat to build something like that and to really see how tight it was,” said Council Member Crystal Hudson said.
"This is a painful and yet necessary part of black and American history," said Council Member Chris Banks.
But even as the site is being recognized as a rare and powerful artifact of American history, advocates say it is already under threat, despite being the first landmarked building ever in Manhattan.
“It is under threat from a developer that wants to put a building right next to and on top of that historic passageway,” Hiller said.
Preservationists and community leaders argue that, after nearly 200 years hidden from view, the passageway should be protected for generations.
They say the site forces a confrontation with both the brutality of slavery and the courage of those who resisted it.
“This is our darkest history,” Hiller said. “And yet this also shows the brightest."
