[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 124 (Friday, October 6, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S10095]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 368--RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF RELOCATING AND 
                RENOVATING THE HAMILTON GRANGE, NEW YORK

  Mr. MOYNIHAN (for himself, Mr. Byrd, and Mr. Schumer) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources.

                              S. Res. 368

       Whereas Alexander Hamilton, assisted by James Madison and 
     George Washington, was the principal drafter of the 
     Constitution of the United States;
       Whereas Hamilton was General Washington's aide-de-camp 
     during the Revolutionary War, and, given command by 
     Washington of the New York and Connecticut light infantry 
     battalion, led the successful assault on British redoubt 
     number 10 at Yorktown;
       Whereas after serving as Secretary of the Treasury, 
     Hamilton founded the Bank of New York and the New York Post;
       Whereas the only home Hamilton ever owned, commonly known 
     as ``the Grange'', is a fine example of Federal period 
     architecture designed by New York architect John McComb, Jr., 
     and was built in upper Manhattan in 1803;
       Whereas the New York State Assembly enacted a law in 1908 
     authorizing New York City to acquire the Grange and move it 
     to nearby St. Nicholas Park, part of the original Hamilton 
     estate, but no action was taken;
       Whereas in 1962, the National Park Service took over 
     management of the Grange, by then wedged on Convent Avenue 
     within inches between an apartment house on the north side 
     and a church on the south side;
       Whereas the 1962 designation of the Grange as a national 
     memorial was contingent on the acquisition by the National 
     Park Service of a site to which the building could be 
     relocated;
       Whereas the New York State legislature enacted a law in 
     1998 that granted approval for New York City to transfer land 
     in St. Nicholas Park to the National Park Service, causing 
     renovations to the Grange to be postponed; and
       Whereas no obelisk, monument, or classical temple along the 
     national mall has been constructed to honor the man who more 
     than any other designed the Government of the United States, 
     Hamilton should at least be remembered by restoring his home 
     in a sylvan setting: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That--
       (1) the Senate recognizes the immense contribution 
     Alexander Hamilton made to the United States as a principal 
     drafter of the Constitution; and
       (2) the National Park Service should expeditiously--
       (A) proceed to relocate the Grange to St. Nicholas Park; 
     and
       (B) restore the Grange to a state befitting the memory of 
     Alexander Hamilton.

  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I rise to introduce a Sense of the 
Senate Resolution that calls on the National Park Service to relocate 
the Hamilton Grange, which is the home of Alexander Hamilton. As 
Washington's aide-de-camp during the Revolution, delegate to the 
Constitutional Convention, Secretary of the Treasury, and founder of 
the Bank of New York and the New York Post, Hamilton was instrumental 
in determining the direction of the nation in its early years. The only 
home he ever owned is in New York City. It sits on a block in Harlem, 
bounded on the north by an apartment house and on the south by a 
church. The apartment house is inches away, the church a few feet.
  For some forty years the National Park Service has been contemplating 
the relocation of the Grange to a better site. The plan now is to go 
around the corner to St. Nicholas Park. The park was part of the 
original Hamilton estate and would be a far more appropriate location 
for the house. The necessary civic approvals are nearly set. It will 
soon be in the hands of the Park Service to get this done. The 
resolution simply states that the agency should do so expeditiously, 
and should then proceed with the restoration projects that have been on 
hold. Alexander Hamilton and those who come to see his home deserve as 
much. I ask my colleagues for their support.

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