Fraunces Tavern is a museum, a restaurant and a national historic landmark. Its history traces back all the way to the end of the 17th century. In 1671 New York Mayor Stephanus van Cortlandt built his home on the site of the current building. The home passed to his daughter and son-in-law, who demolished it and in 1719 built the edifice that we see today. Half a century later the house was purchased by restaurateur Samuel Fraunces, who transformed it into a tavern. Before the Revolution the tavern had served as a meeting place for the Sons of Liberty, the secret society responsible for promoting colonial resistance to the government in Great Britain. In 1768 the New York Chamber of Commerce was established during a conference in the tavern. In 1775, right before the Declaration of Independence, a British ship fired several shots in retaliation to cannon fire from the colonists and one of the cannon balls landed on the roof of the tavern. During the Revolutionary War, while the British Army occupied New York between 1776 and 1783, Samuel Fraunces prepared food for American prisoners and is said to have been a spy for the Continental Army. Several days after Evacuation Day, in which the British Army was expelled from New York, the tavern organized a feast for George Washington in which the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army bade farewell to his officers.
In the 19th century the tavern underwent a series of heavy fires. In 1900 its owner wanted to take it down and build a parking lot. However, several patriotic organizations, including the Daughters of the American Revolution, intervened and the city authorities left it standing. In 1975 a bomb exploded in the premises killing four people. The terrorist act was claimed by a Puerto Rican nationalist liberation group. In 1965 the Fraunces Tavern became a New York City Landmark.