8. Bayard’s Mansion

Bayard Mansion.

Alexander Hamilton was taken to the Bayard Mansion at 80-82 Jane Street after his duel with Aaron Burr, and Angelica Schuyler and Eliza Hamilton “were both by his side as he died” here, as sung in “The World Was Wide Enough.”

William Bayard, Jr. was a prominent New York City banker and a close friend of Alexander Hamilton (he was a Bank of New York director). After his duel with Aaron Burr the morning of July 11, 1804, Hamilton was rowed across the Hudson River to Bayard’s dock and taken into his home. As word of the duel and Hamilton’s mortal wound spread throughout the city, people congregated in front of Bayard’s mansion. Bulletins providing updates on Hamilton’s condition were circulated throughout the day.

The original building no longer stands but there is a plaque on the wall of the current building commemorating Hamilton’s death. Some say that Bayard’s mansion would have actually been located a block north of Jane Street, on present-day Horatio Street. What is known is that the fireplace mantle in front of which Hamilton died is now inside Gracie Mansion.