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Attraction >Museum
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Description and Basic Information ::
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Formerly the Abigail Adams Smith Museum, the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden is New York City’s only surviving day hotel, boasting an historical collection of period furniture as well as decorative arts, quilts, textiles, costumes, artifacts and documents from early America and New York City dating back to the late 18th century.
Located in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, the property was originally purchased in 1795 by William Stephen Smith and his wife Abigail Adams Smith. At that time this area was a country retreat from the bustling city life of lower Manhattan. After the couple turned the lot into an impressive estate, they were forced to abandon it due to financial difficulties. In 1799 William T. Robinson, a trade merchant, added to the mansion and completed the construction of the main house and the carriage house, which today serve as the museum site.
A quarter of a century later the main house burnt to the ground, and the carriage house was transformed into the Mount Vernon Hotel, a day hotel which operated until 1833. The hotel was named after an area bounded by 62nd street to the north, 59th street to the south, 2nd Avenue to the west, and the east river. This perimeter delineates the original 23-acre estate owned by the Smiths, and is referred to as 'Mount Vernon' on 19th-century New York City maps and in many 19th-century newspaper articles and advertisements, though it has not been called as such since the beginning of the 20th century.
By the 1940s, the federal period mansion was debuted to the public as a new museum, known as the Abigail Adams Smith House. About 40 years later, just after the house was accredited by the American Association of Museums, the museum’s board of managers decided to reinterpret and refurbish the museum to reflect its mission: to have the surrounding neighborhood once again be called 'Mount Vernon.” The board claims that “Mount Vernon” is the name Abigail Adams Smith intended for the site, and the name by which the entire neighborhood had been known for most of the 19th century.
The orientation center on the second floor of the museum r has been named 'The Abigail Adams Smith Orientation Center.' Here visitors learn of the Smiths' original plans for the property as well as the history of the neighborhood. Visitors can view a scale model of the original carriage house, and enjoy a video about New York City in the 1820s and 1830s. In addition to the orientation center and many interpretive exhibits, the museum offers guided tours of the museum's nine period-rooms representing the 1830 Mount Vernon Hotel. A variety of educational and public programs also are available. |
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