Alexander Hamilton is one of our country’s most famous Founding Fathers, undergoing a resurgence of popularity thanks to the Broadway show, Hamilton. He served as the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury establishing the nation’s financial system. He founded many other institutions such as the Coast Guard, New York Post, and the Federalist Party. He was an American patriot through-and-through, but he was also a New Yorker.
Born on the island of Nevis in the West Indies as a British subject, he immigrated to New York for college, fought in the Revolutionary War beside George Washington, and stayed in New York to help shape the fledgling United States. Here are 10 locations of Hamilton’s New York City.
10. Columbia University
As King’s College, Columbia University began in the vestry hall at Trinity Church, then moved to a campus near present day City Hall.
At the age of 16, young Alexander Hamilton enrolled in King’s College in 1773, the college that would become Columbia University after the Revolution. Hamilton originally came to America to study at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton) but ultimately chose King’s College because he wanted to finish school on an accelerated schedule the College of New Jersey would not allow. Hamilton left school in 1775 when the Revolutionary War broke out to pursue a career in politics. He never did go back to finish his studies but in 1788 Columbia awarded him an honorary Master’s degree and became a trustee of the college.