Spies of the American Revolution

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  • 2 Hours
  • Small Groups (Max 15)
  • Free Cancellation (24h)
  • $49 per person
    Museum admission included

Tour Highlights

  • Washington’s Secret Network: Walk the streets where the Culper Spy Ring operated and learn how it helped the Continental Army survive and defeat the British 
  • A Hidden Relic of British Occupation: See one of the only surviving physical remnants of the Revolutionary War still standing in Manhattan: a window from a prison where more than 17,500 American captives died.
  • The Clash That Predates Boston: Stand at the site of the Battle of Golden Hill, a forgotten conflict between colonists and British troops that erupted weeks before the Boston Massacre.
  • Washington’s Farewell Tavern: End at Fraunces Tavern Museum, where the general bid farewell to his officers in 1783. One of the oldest operating taverns in New York City, now a museum.
  • Discreet wireless earpieces included for clear audio, even in busier areas
  • Fraunces Tavern Museum admission included ($10 value)

Untapped New York tour guide holding a historical illustration in front of the Sugar House Prison window plaque on a red brick wall in lower Manhattan
Revolution era map of NYC
Untapped New York tour guide discussing history with guests in front of blooming pink cherry trees at a Manhattan park during a Spies of the American Revolution walking tour
Bronze statue of Revolutionary-era Nathan Hale on a stone pedestal in a lower Manhattan park, surrounded by flowering spring trees
A group of Untapped New York walking tour guests gathered outside an St. Paul's Chapel in lower Manhattan, with the guide pointing out architectural and historical details
Neoclassical facade of St. Paul's Chapel in lower Manhattan, featuring Ionic columns, a triangular pediment with a saint's statue, and a stone exterior
Gravestones
Untapped New York tour guide addressing guests beside the Bell of Hope at Trinity Church cemetery in lower Manhattan, with historic gravestones visible in the background
An American flag flying in front of a modern Manhattan skyscraper bearing a gold "Liberty" sign, framed by bare tree branches in lower Manhattan
Untapped New York guide gesturing animatedly while holding a portrait of a Revolutionary War soldier during an outdoor walking tour in lower Manhattan
Stone memorial marker surrounded by spring tulips in City Hall Park, Manhattan, commemorating the five Liberty Poles erected on the site before American independence
Tour guests walking along a cobblestone street past the historic Baker & Williams warehouse at 267 Water Street in the South Street Seaport neighborhood of lower Manhattan
Untapped New York guide showing guests a reproduction of a handwritten historical document during the Spies of the American Revolution walking tour in lower Manhattan
Historic red-brick warehouse building at the South Street Seaport with a red triangular flag, pedestrians walking along a cobblestone waterfront plaza
Untapped New York tour guide showing guests a historical portrait in front of the South Street Seaport Museum in lower Manhattan during the Spies of the American Revolution walking tour
Row of 19th-century commercial brick buildings along Water Street at the South Street Seaport Museum, with pedestrians on the sidewalk
273 Water Street
Untapped New York tour guide holding a historical map of Revolutionary War spy routes while gesturing toward a landmark during a walking tour in the South Street Seaport
Close-up of the historic Baker & Williams warehouse building at 267 Water Street in lower Manhattan, featuring faded painted lettering on a red brick facade with green shuttered windows
The neoclassical exterior of Federal Hall National Memorial on Wall Street in lower Manhattan, with a statue of George Washington on the steps and exhibit banners on the columns
Untapped New York tour guests gazing upward at the soaring marble columns inside Federal Hall National Memorial in lower Manhattan
ide-angle view looking up at the illuminated coffered dome inside Federal Hall National Memorial, with an Untapped New York tour group gathered below beneath the towering Corinthian columns
Untapped New York guide pointing to the First Inaugural Day April 30, 1789 marker inside Federal Hall National Memorial while guests photograph the historic site
The exterior of Fraunces Tavern at the corner of Pearl and Broad Streets in lower Manhattan, a Georgian-style landmark dating to 1719 with an American flag displayed on the facade
ntapped New York tour group examining a large bronze commemorative plaque on Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan
Colonial-era dining room at Fraunces Tavern with a long wooden table set with pewter dishes and Windsor chairs, wood-paneled walls, and candlelit sconces
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Itinerary

Manhattan Municipal Building
Meet at the Manhattan Municipal Building, under the Guastavino arches at the entrance to the J/Z Chambers Street subway stop. Please arrive 10 minutes early.
Sugar House Prison Window
A monument behind the Manhattan Municipal Building, believed to be the remains of the Sugar House Prison, where more than 17,500 American prisoners of war died during the British occupation.
City Hall Park & the Liberty Pole
The site where the Declaration of Independence was first read aloud in New York, and home to a largely forgotten monument to freedom of speech.
St. Paul's Chapel
George Washington’s favorite New York chapel, built in 1766 and still standing. The only church in Manhattan to have survived both the Great Fire of 1776 and September 11.
Ryders Alley, the Battle of Golden Hill
A small alley off Fulton Street where the first armed conflict of the American Revolution took place, weeks before the Boston Massacre. A clash most history books don’t mention.
273 Water Street, The Rat Pit
Built in 1775 as a stately captain’s home, this is Manhattan’s only surviving Revolution-era townhouse. It later became the city’s most notorious 19th-century sailor hangout and illegal sporting venue, then a stately home again.
Peck Slip, Seaport District
One of the most important intelligence locations of the entire Revolutionary War. Home to a key Continental Army officer and the ferry that carried Culper Spy Ring intelligence back and forth to Long Island, and sheltered Washington’s troops during the retreat from Brooklyn.
Bowne & Co. Stationers
A print shop founded in 1775, still operating today. The continuity alone is worth a stop.
Site of Hercules Mulligan's Shop
The clothier Washington called ‘a true friend of liberty’, who gathered intelligence on the Loyalist elite while appearing to serve them.
Federal Hall
Where George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States. Also the site of the first Congress, Supreme Court, and Executive Branch offices.
Fraunces Tavern Museum (optional)
The tour concludes at Fraunces Tavern Museum, 54 Pearl St, New York, NY 10004. One of the oldest operating establishments in NYC and Washington’s favorite tavern. The site where he bid farewell to his officers in 1783. Admission included with your tour ticket.

About This Tour

New York was the center of the American Revolution. Most people walk past the evidence every day without knowing it.

Before the skyscrapers and the subway, New York was a gritty, occupied city, where Patriots and Loyalists lived on the same streets, spies fed intelligence across the harbor, and the fate of a new nation hung on decisions made in taverns and print shops.

On this two-hour walking tour of Lower Manhattan, you’ll trace George Washington’s Culper Spy Ring through the Seaport District, the covert network that kept the Continental Army informed during the British occupation of New York. You’ll stand at the site of the Battle of Golden Hill, a confrontation between colonists and British soldiers that erupted weeks before the Boston Massacre, a moment most American history classes skip entirely. You’ll see one of the only surviving physical remnants of the British occupation: a window from a prison where more than 17,500 captured American soldiers died. And you’ll end the tour at George Washington’s favorite New York City tavern, still open and operating today.

A Revolutionary War-era map is your guide throughout. Wireless earpieces keep every story clear, even in the middle of the city. 

Whether you’ve walked these streets a hundred times or you’re visiting Lower Manhattan for the first time, this tour will change the way you see them.

The tour concludes at the Fraunces Tavern Museum, one of the oldest surviving buildings in New York City and the site of Washington’s farewell to his officers. Museum admission is included in your ticket. 

Photos by Klaus-Peter Statz, Interior Museum Photo Courtesy of Fraunces Tavern Museum

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