Manhattan's Oldest House and Washington's 1776 Headquarters
65 Jumel Terrace, New York, NY 10032
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Modest admission for adults; reduced for seniors, students, and children. Tours and special evening events priced separately.
Access
Limited Access
Multiple staircases inside the mansion; gardens accessible
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1765 · National Historic Landmark · NYC Landmark · Oldest Extant House on Manhattan · 1776 Washington Headquarters · Aaron Burr Marriage Site
Roger Morris was born in England in 1727 and served as a British army officer in North America during the French and Indian War. In 1758 he married Mary Philipse of the wealthy Philipse family. In 1765 the Morrises built a Palladian summer villa on a 130-acre estate atop one of the highest points in upper Manhattan, calling the property Mount Morris. The house's portico, with its full-height columns and triangular pediment, was one of the first major Palladian compositions in colonial New York.
The Morris family abandoned the property in 1775 as American independence approached. The house's connection to George Washington began on September 14, 1776, when Continental Army forces retreated north up Manhattan after the disastrous Battle of Long Island. Washington established his headquarters in the empty Morris house and remained there through the Battle of Harlem Heights on September 16. He left on October 18 for White Plains. The house then served briefly as headquarters for British General Sir Henry Clinton in 1778 and General Wilhelm von Knyphausen.
After the Revolution the house operated as a public tavern on the Albany Post Road. In 1810 it was purchased by French wine merchant Stephen Jumel and his American wife Eliza Bowen Jumel. Eliza Jumel, born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1775 to a family in straitened circumstances, had become one of the wealthiest women in early-republic America through Stephen's mercantile success and her own real-estate acumen. The Jumels redecorated the house in the Federal and later Empire styles. Stephen Jumel died in 1832 under disputed circumstances following a carriage accident.
In July 1833 Eliza Jumel married former Vice President Aaron Burr in the house's front parlor. Burr was 77 and Jumel was 58. The marriage was brief and acrimonious; they separated within months, and Jumel filed for divorce. The divorce was granted on September 14, 1836, the day Burr died.
Eliza Jumel continued to live in the house until her death in 1865. The property passed through several hands before being acquired by the City of New York in 1903 for use as a museum. The mansion is designated a National Historic Landmark, a New York City Landmark, and is operated by the nonprofit Morris-Jumel Mansion in partnership with New York City Parks.
Sources
The Morris-Jumel Mansion is widely cited as one of New York City's most paranormally reported historic sites, with a documentary record that extends back to the late 19th century. Several distinct entities recur in collected accounts.
The most-reported figure is Eliza Bowen Jumel, described as an elderly woman in a violet 19th-century dress observed on the second-floor staircase and in her bedroom. The 1964 incident in which a group of schoolchildren on a tour reported being shushed from the front balcony by a woman they later identified from a painting as Eliza Jumel is widely cited as a foundational moment for the house's modern paranormal reputation.
A second figure is a young woman in domestic uniform, often interpreted as a servant from either the Morris or Jumel households. Reports cluster around the back service stairs and the kitchen.
A Revolutionary-era British soldier is occasionally reported on the front lawn or near the front door, dressed in red-coat uniform. The house's brief British headquarters use in 1778 provides the historical anchor.
Stephen Jumel's death in 1832 was disputed at the time. Some accounts blamed Eliza for hastening his death by removing bandages after his carriage accident; the suspicion has provided durable material for ghost-tour storytelling. Stephen's figure is reported in the basement and in the front parlor where his body was prepared for burial.
Aaron Burr is reported in the front parlor where his 1833 marriage to Eliza took place. Burr died in 1836 on the day his divorce from Eliza was granted, a coincidence that has fed the lore.
The mansion does not promote itself as a haunted house in its primary programming, but offers occasional theatrical evening events that incorporate the lore. The Morris-Jumel staff have publicly discussed the paranormal accounts in archival, oral-history terms.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Self-guided tour of Manhattan's oldest extant house, built in 1765 for British Colonel Roger Morris. The rooms include George Washington's bedchamber and headquarters office from the 1776 American defense of New York, and Eliza Jumel's Federal- and Empire-period parlors.
A guided tour led by costumed docents covering the mansion's three principal occupancies: the Loyalist Morris family, General Washington's brief 1776 headquarters, and the Jumel family's 19th-century occupancy, including Aaron Burr's brief 1833 marriage to widow Eliza Jumel.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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