Underground Railroad Passageway Discovered Inside Historic Manhattan Townhouse

The Merchant’s House Museum, a preserved 19th-century home located in NoHo on East Fourth Street, has uncovered what experts believe to be a concealed Underground Railroad passageway — and the timing couldn’t be more fitting as the discovery comes during Black History Month.

Built in 1832 and operating as a museum since 1936, the former Treadwell family home is known for its preservation of “old New York,” complete with its ruby-red parlor, original piano, and cast-iron kitchen stove. But behind the elegance and antiques, investigators recently discovered something far deeper — a hidden shaft believed to have served as a safe haven for enslaved Africans escaping the South.

According to Spectrum News NY1, the concealed passageway was found upstairs behind built-in drawers along the west wall. After removing a heavy bottom drawer, experts uncovered a rectangular cut in the floorboards leading to a narrow two-by-two-foot shaft with a ladder descending to the ground floor. Historians describe the feature as intentionally designed to remain nearly invisible.

“We knew it was here but didn’t really know what we were looking at,” said curator Camille Czerkowicz.

Preservation attorney Michael Hiller called it a once-in-a-career discovery.

“I’ve been practicing historical preservation law for 30 years, and this is a generational find,” he said. “This is the most significant find in historic preservation in my career.”

Architectural historian Patrick Ciccone credits Joseph Brewster, the home’s original builder who sold it in 1835, with incorporating the hidden feature. Brewster is believed to have been an abolitionist — a rare stance among wealthy white New Yorkers during that era.

“Being an abolitionist was incredibly rare among white New Yorkers, especially wealthy white New Yorkers,” Ciccone explained. “He was able to make these choices and design it.”

City leaders say the discovery reshapes the way Manhattan’s role in the abolitionist movement is remembered.

“Many New Yorkers forget that we were part of the abolitionist movement,” Councilman Christopher Marte said. “This is physical evidence of what happened.”

Councilman Harvey Epstein called the find “a critical piece of the overall struggle for freedom and justice.”

Now, the Merchant’s House Museum stands as more than just a preserved slice of 19th-century life. It serves as a reminder that Manhattan played a quiet but courageous role in the fight against slavery — and that history still lives beneath our feet.