The structure is described as “about 2 feet square and secreted beneath a built-in chest of drawers on the second floor, [and] descends 15 feet to the ground floor,” according to a statement from the Merchant’s House Museum.<\/p>\n
MASSIVE INDUSTRIAL SITE UNCOVERED IN UNLIKELY LOCATION AS ARCHAEOLOGISTS CITE ‘ENORMOUS’ POTENTIAL<\/a><\/p>\n Though the home dates to 1832, it’s unclear when the passageway was built.\u00a0<\/p>\n The house, however, was built by an abolitionist, Joseph Brewster \u2014 and the hidden passage<\/a> “serves no known domestic purpose,” according to the museum.<\/p>\n A newly identified passageway at a historic Manhattan home is believed to have played a role in helping enslaved Black Americans escape to freedom through secret routes. (Max Touhey\/Merchant’s House Museum via AP; Three Lions\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n The passageway was first found in the 1930s. Historians did not know until recently that Brewster was an abolitionist.<\/p>\n Museum officials said the analysis of the site took two years of “extensive research”<\/a> \u2014 and now the site is at risk. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.\u00a0<\/p>\n TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ<\/a><\/p>\n The concern is connected to the proposed development of a nine-story mixed-use building that could possibly damage the walls and foundation of the Merchant’s House Museum, according to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n Emily Hill-Wright, the museum’s director of operations, recently told AP that engineers have raised concerns about potential structural damage.<\/p>\n A concealed passage beneath a second-floor chest of drawers descends roughly 15 feet to the ground level. (Max Touhey\/Merchant’s House Museum via AP)<\/p>\n “What our engineers are saying is that there really is no way that a building of that size is built immediately next door to the museum without causing significant structural damage to our historic building,” she said.<\/p>\n Museum officials also said the discovery has brought in more visitors<\/a> in recent months.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER<\/a><\/p>\n New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission is set to make a decision on the development, but members of the community are raising concerns.<\/p>\n In a statement last week, Rev. Al Sharpton warned the site is at risk of “irreversible damage.”<\/p>\n Researchers say the hidden space serves no known domestic purpose inside the historic New York City home. (Max Touhey\/Merchant’s House Museum via AP)<\/p>\n “When engineers tell me that an African American heritage site is in danger of structural compromise or any other sort of irreversible damage, I listen,” Sharpton said in a statement.<\/p>\n The private developer, Kalodop II Park Corp., wants to replace the one-story garage it owns at 27 East 4th St. with a nine-story office building that includes ground-floor space likely to be used for a restaurant or art gallery, as the New York Post<\/a> reported of the details.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Bounty hunters were all over the place in New York City.”<\/p>\n The developer had two earlier applications for construction on the lot; the most recent was approved in 2023, the Post also said. But Kalodop never began the construction \u2014 and in December submitted new plans for a building that would have two\u00a0more\u00a0stories.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES<\/a><\/p>\n Helping enslaved people would have come at a great cost to Brewster, Harlem Historical Society director Jacob Morris told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n “Bounty hunters were all over the place in New York City. They made their living on catching freedom-seeking Blacks,” he said.<\/p>\n The Merchant’s House Museum was originally built in 1832 by abolitionist Joseph Brewster, historians say. (Lawrence Thornton\/Archive Photos\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Morris added, “If you got caught helping Blacks escape from slavery, a mob could come and burn down your house and beat you up. And maybe even tar and feather you, or worse.”<\/p>\n The passageway discovery is one of many recent archaeological finds involving African American history.<\/p>\n Last June, a South Carolina tourist found “historically significant” remains<\/a> on Edisto Island, once home to a community of African American sharecroppers.<\/p>\n![\"Split](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ny-underground-railroad-discovery-archaeology-history-nyc-1.jpg\")
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