A hidden burial ground, nearly lost to time
I probably never would have known about the African Burial Ground National Monument if I hadn’t had jury duty for 6 months down by City Hall—which meant I passed the Monument twice a week for several months. Finally I decided I had to stop walking past it and purposely visit. I’m glad I did.
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The site itself has a similar history: no one would have known about it were it not for a construction project in 1991 that resulted in the discovery of human remains 30 feet below Broadway. Archaeologists eventually realized they had just unearthed a 6-acre burial ground where more than 15,000 enslaved and free Africans were buried from the 1630s to 1795.
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Today, there’s no traditional cemetery to see, but there is a beautiful Monument, several burial mounds (in which the bodies were reinterred), and a great museum about the African experience in New York in the 17th and 18th centuries. The city has designated it a sacred place.
Visiting ideas
The Monument itself won’t take more than a few minutes to see, though you may want to spend a few minutes more just pondering everything. I’d recommend seeing the museum first so you can understand the full context of the site before seeing it—although you certainly don’t have to read every single thing in the museum: there’s A LOT of information there. Then again, if you do like to read every single thing, it’s a very well done museum and I’m sure it’s worth it.
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Once you’ve finished at the Monument, there’s literally so much to see in the area that I don’t even know where to start. You can walk across Brooklyn Bridge, visit gorgeous and historic City Hall Park (don’t miss glancing up at the Woolworth Building), walk down to the World Trade Center and 9/11 Memorial, or skip all that and just head into Chinatown for soup dumplings. Then stop at Ferrara for dessert in Little Italy.
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Or, if you're in the mood for more cemeteries, St. Paul's Chapel and Churchyard is within easy walking distance, and Trinity Church (where Hamilton is buried) is just a bit farther.
In brief
Rating & Visiting info
4: Def worth a visit
Open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. See current tours.
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The Visitor Center and Museum are indoors, so those you can visit any time. The outdoor monument is best visited any time it’s not raining or snowing. There are bathrooms in the museum.
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There is both an outside memorial and an indoor Visitor Center with a museum. The latter is located on the first floor of the Ted Weiss Federal Building (290 Broadway). Check the website for closures before you go.
Founding & Famous people
Mid-1630s
Declared a National Historic Monument in 1993
No "famous" people here, just the enslaved people who built our nation at great personal cost.
Location & Nearby sites
Lower Manhattan
You can take any of the following subway lines and end up within a few blocks of the site:
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1, 2, 3 (to Chambers Street)
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A, C (to Chambers Street)
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R (to City Hall)
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4, 5, 6 (to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall)
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J, Z (to Chambers Street)
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Nearby sites include Brooklyn Bridge, City Hall, World Trade Center, 9/11 Memorial, Chinatown. Chinatown is within walking distance, and there are plenty of amazing restaurants there. Or you can walk about 10 minutes to Joe’s Pizza: a famed NYC institution and one of my favorite pizza places.
