A preservationist has asked New York City's government to halt the planned demolition of a Manhattan building after discovering what he believes to be evidence that the building is the site of a tavern where George Washington enjoyed a celebratory drink at the end of the American Revolution.
Adam Woodward tells CBS New York that he is "pretty certain" that the building at 50 Bowery is the site of the Bull's Head Tavern, built in around 1750 and at the time located far north of what then constituted New York City at the southern tip of Manhattan Island.
The connection to George Washington was made in 1783, when the future first president marched his Continental Army troops down the Bowery and stopped to have a drink with New York Governor George Clinton before formally taking possession of the city from the departing British.
The building at 50 Bowery has long been suggested as the location of the Bull's Head, but it was only recently that Woodward was able to investigate. Gaining access to the basement, he found what he believes are joists and walls dating from the colonial era.
The building is slated to be torn to make way for a hotel, but Woodward has asked city officials to hold off so that archaeologists can investigate the scene more thoroughly. One historian says that if the building does indeed contain the remains of The Bull's Head, it would be the oldest extant building on Manhattan Island.
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