Thomas Jefferson rented 57 Maiden Lane while serving as Secretary of State in New York City in 1790. Alexander Hamilton and James Madison had dinner with Jefferson at his home to finalize the deal for what has come to be known as the Compromise of 1790. In 1790 the newly appointed Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, moved to New York, the new country's capital. He wrote to a friend "My first object was to look out a house on the Broadway as being the centre of my business. Finding none there vacant for the present, I have taken a small one in Maiden Lane, which may give me time to look about." Beginning on May 1st, Jefferson rented 57 Maiden Lane from grocers Robert and Peter Bruce for "one hundred pounds per annum New York currency, paiable in specie quarterly."¹ Jefferson would stay at the house until September 1st, when he returned to Virginia before moving to the new temporary national capital in Philadelphia.His residency at No. 57 Maiden Lane was short, just three months; but it was the scene of critical political events, including the dinner party during which the decision was made to move the capital to Philadelphia.A century later, on the site of Thomas Jefferson's temporary home now stood a five-story office building, home to the Provident Realty Company of New-York.
Related People & Organizations
