As the nation prepares to mark America’s 250th birthday, many New Yorkers are looking back at the people, places and stories that helped shape the country’s founding — like the Fraunces Tavern Museum in Lower Manhattan.

The organization Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York purchased and restored the building during the early 20th century. Built in 1719, the New York City landmark on Pearl Street is the oldest building in Manhattan.

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As the nation prepares to mark America’s 250th birthday, many New Yorkers are looking back at the people, places and stories that helped shape the country’s founding — like the Fraunces Tavern Museum in Lower Manhattan

The organization Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York purchased and restored the building during the early 20th century

Built in 1719, the New York City landmark on Pearl Street is the oldest building in Manhattan

It was in the tavern’s long room that George Washington gave an emotional farewell speech to his officers after the Revolutionary War ended in 1783.

“This is intact, the same dimensions, and a lot of the original timbers and materials are from that day,” Ambrose Richardson III told NY1.

Richardson is the great-great-great-great-nephew of James Madison, and is directly related to George Washington’s aunt, Mildred Washington. The attorney from Queens and former Sons of the Revolution president said he dedicates his time and talents to keeping the legacy of American patriots alive.

“Part of our mission throughout, is to keep alive the ideals that the republic was founded for, whether it’s individual liberty, self-government — which was sort of a unique concept at the time — which is, I think, America’s gift to much of the world,” Richardson said.

“We’re surrounded by skyscrapers and we’re this kind of oasis of the past,” added Melissa Lauer, the education and public programs manager at the museum.

The museum also features an exhibit on Black patriots. Jacqueline Long is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Tobias Hill, who enlisted in a local militia out of Massachusetts in 1777. She discovered the connection in 2012.

“I was Googling one day and this document, the regiment with his name on it, appeared,” Long said.

Now a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Long added she’s proud to know that Hill was part of a group of Africans throughout the colonies ready for battle.

Between 5,000 to 8,000 soldiers served in the Continental Army and Navy. Roughly 15,000 to 20,000 supported the British.

Genealogist Ruth Hunt is also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Her patriot is Philip W. Cansler, of North Carolina, who provided shelter for wounded soldiers of the Continental Army in 1780.

She said the “path to liberty” involved men and women from diverse backgrounds.

“I think that’s important that this year we have more exposure than ever before about Black patriots to know that we were there and we helped build this country from the very, very beginning. So I feel proud to know it, to understand it, and to teach it,” Hunt told NY1.