Sites to See in NYC - Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace and Green-Wood Cemetery and Battle Hill

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., 26th President of the United States, the driving force behind the Progressive Era and the Square Deal in the early 20th century, statesman, author, explorer, soldier, reformer, naturalist, and widely considered to be one of the greatest U.S. presidents – was born and raised for the first part of his life in Manhattan’s 28 East 20th Street, New York City.  Theodore Roosevelt was born there on October 27, 1858, and he and his family lived there until 1872, when they moved uptown to West 57th Street.

The three-story brownstone building as it now stands is not the original construction, however.  That was demolished in 1916, until it was purchased by the Women’s Roosevelt Memorial Association, now the Theodore Roosevelt Association, in 1919.  The building was restored and recreated to a replica of what it originally was in 1865, and the row house next door was incorporated as a museum.  Many of its furnishings were provided by the President’s widow, Edith Carow, and his two sisters, Anna and Corinne, all of whom also supplied information for the recreation of the building.

The National Parks Service now offers tours of the site, and a visit can be most illuminating as to Theodore Roosevelt’s childhood, his sickly condition, his desire to improve his physical constitution through exercise, and his great interest early on in being a naturalist.  All of it becomes all the more illuminating when you consider his public persona as a Cowboy and Rough Rider Chief Executive whose face now stands alongside other luminaries as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln on Mount Rushmore.

Green-Wood CemeterTop of Formy and Battle Hill

The first major battle of the American Revolutionary War took place on August 27, 1776, and is commonly known as The Battle of Long Island, the Battle of Brooklyn, or the Battle of Brooklyn Heights.  It is still considered the largest battle during the entire war, and Battle Hill the site of especially brutal fighting.  Battle Hill is the highest point of what was then King’s County, and is now located within Greenwood Cemetery.

The British Army were victorious during this battle, and they gained control of the strategically important city of New York and its harbor.  Washington retreated to Manhattan, and after several more defeats, he and his army were driven out of New York entirely. 

It must be added, however, that Green-Wood Cemetery is not just a commemoration of the Battle of Long Island – it is also a commemoration of the lives that have been buried within its grounds in the years since then.  Within cemetery grounds are wonderful, graphic monuments, tombstones and mausoleums of specific individuals, some famous, and some infamous – and tombs even of pets - whose lives are especially commemorated in a poignant way through the unique structures erected within these park-like grounds.  The gently rolling hills of the terrain, and winding paths that twists and turns – where a person can literally get lost without a map – promises “a surprise around every bend.”

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