February 11, 2026
The safe house went by undetected until almost a century later.
A hidden safe house once used by the Underground Railroad has been discovered within a famed NYC landmark museum.
Inside the Merchant’s House Museum in Manhattan, visitors to the Empire State would get a sense of “old New York.” The old residential building became its own historic center in 1936, showcasing life during the late 19th century. Initially belonging to the Treadwell family, its well-kept furnishings have become a mainstay for New York’s eclectic museum offerings.
However, the Merchant’s House museum’s staff have discovered a new historic remnant within its walls, a safe house used to protect and hide people escaping slavery. They were aware of its existence, but not the significance of the vacant room.
“We knew it was here, but didn’t really know what we were looking at,” explained Camille Czerkowicz, the museum’s curator, to NY1.
Behind the bedrooms on its second floor lies a vertical passageway used by freedom-seekers to travel in secret. The reveal has sent a shockwave through historical preservation circles, with one expert calling the safe house a “generational find.”
“I’ve been practicing historical preservation law for 30 years, and this is a generational find. This is the most significant find in historic preservation in my career, and it’s very important that we preserve this,” Michael Hiller, a preservation attorney and professor at Pratt Institute, said.
During the enslavement period, some enslaved Africans were able to find ways to escape, often with the help of white and Black abolitionists. The Underground Railroad was a secret passage system from the slavery-legalized South to the Northern free states in the U.S., often taking many freedom-seekers all the way to Canada to escape bondage. According to History.com, the Railroad had many unique stops along its journey, using several safe houses to ensure travelers stayed hidden.
While it is unknown whether the Treadwell family participated in the freedom movement, the home’s original builder designed it for such measures. However, participating as an abolitionist was considered rare for the New York elite.
Despite this, the re-emergence of the safe house proves that the quest for justice still looms in the area. Some even deem the signal relevant in today’s times of persecution, particularly toward those labeled as “illegal immigrants.”
“Many New Yorkers forget that we were part of the abolitionist movement, but this is physical evidence of what happened in the South [during] the Civil War, and what’s happening today,” Manhattan Councilman Christopher Marte said.
Now, the Merchant’s House museum has a new layer of legacy and history, with its latest ties to the abolitionist movement.
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