Broad St. Hotel, old Fraunces Tavern, New York City

The Broad St. Hotel, former Fraunces Tavern, on the corner of Pearl and Broad streets. Engraving published in the book George Washington by Woodrow Wilson, published in 1896. Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) was later president of Princeton University and the 28th President of the United States of America.

This illustration above depicts the Broad Street Hotel as it appeared after the fire of 1852 and before the addition of the fifth floor, before 1872. The 1854 Valentine's Manual illustration of Fraunces Tavern (right) is generally thought to be the earliest known, but there are at least four other older images. The image above is probably one of them. The engraving published in 1852 in the Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution by Benson John Lossing (right) is another one. Fraunces Tavern was partially represented in the late 18th century by Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Mémin (1798), which shows that the original roof was very different from the restored tavern by architect William H. Mersereau, in 1907. It was discovered here that the Mersereau's roof was of an intermediate structure that existed before the fire of 1852, but after the fire of 1832, as shown in Bachmann's Aerial View of 1850. (see the Architecture of the Fraunces Tavern).

The Lossing's book illustration (1852) does not represent the stairs in the adjoining building to the right, which could mean it was added later.