Secret Underground Railroad station discovered in 19th century house in New York

In 1832, wealthy hat merchant Joseph Brewster built an elegant townhouse in the area Manhattanwhich is today known as the East Village. A century later, the building became the Merchant’s House Museum, and curators discovered a mysterious secret passage connecting the second floor corridor to the basement. For decades, the purpose of this design remained a mystery. A recent historical investigation linked itis with the “Underground Railroad” – a secret network of routes along which fugitive slaves were transported to the northern United States, reports ABC 7.

The secret behind the linen chest of drawers

The discovery happened by accident: during renovation work, painters took out the drawers of the built-in chest of drawers, located in the corridor between two bedrooms, and found under false floor laz. There was a staircase hidden inside 4.5 meters highleading straight to the basement.

At first the administration of the Merchant’s House assumed that it could be laundry lift or a secret place for children to play. However, such structures have not been found in any other surviving house of that era. The mystery was solved when museum historian Anne Haddad began researching the identity of the original owner, Joseph Brewster.

Underground organization

The Underground Railroad was not a transportation facility, but a secret network of activists (black and white) who helped enslaved people escape from the southern states into the northern United States and Canada from the late 18th century until 1865.

To maintain secrecy, participants used railway terminology:

• “Stations” or “Stations”: Private houses, churches, shops or basements where fugitives could hide, eat and rest. Joseph Brewster’s house in New York was just such a “station.”
• Station Masters: Vault owners (like Brewster) who risked property and freedom to shelter people. According to the laws of that time, this was considered a serious crime.
• “Conductors”: Conductors who escorted groups of fugitives from one station to another. The most famous was Harriet Tubman, who flew 13 missions and saved dozens of people.
• “Passengers” or “Cargo”: Code designations for the fugitives themselves.

Hatter-Abolitionist

The study showed that Brewster was not just a successful businessman, but also an ardent opponent of slavery. He signed at least two anti-racist petitions and founded three churches with his own funds. It is noteworthy that one of them, located just a few blocks from the house, was built with a false floor at Brewster’s personal direction. This directly indicates that the building was used as a temporary shelter for fugitives.

The merchant’s own house, apparently, was another “station” on this dangerous path. Although the kitchen and pantry have long since been rebuilt, they previously had access to the alley behind the house. A hidden staircase made it possible to quickly move from the living area to the basement, and from there to a secret exit to the street in the event of a raid.

Dangerous New York

Although slavery was abolished in New York State in 1827, the city itself remained largely pro-slavery in the early 19th century. Hunters for fugitive slaves felt at ease in Manhattan, and helping those in hiding was a deadly task for both the fugitives themselves and their accomplices.

“There are vanishingly few physical traces of the Underground Railroad in the United States,” says architectural historian Patrick Ciccone. “The fact that this space has come down to us in its original form gives the 1832 house invaluable historical significance.”

Now the Merchant’s House, which was associated only with the life of the wealthy Treadwell family (who bought the building from Brewster in 1835), will open a new page in the history of the struggle for freedom for visitors.