As the antiquated hyphenated name implies, the Historical Society is the city’s oldest museum, founded in 1804 to preserve the city’s historical and cultural artifacts. Its collection of more than 60,000 objects is quirky and fascinating and includes everything from George Washington’s inauguration chair to a 19th-century Tiffany ice-cream dish (gilded, of course).
Other treasures include a leg brace worn by President Franklin D Roosevelt, a 19th-century mechanical bank in which a political figure slips coins into his pocket and photographer Jack Stewart’s graffiti-covered door from the 1970s (featuring tags by known graffiti writers such as Tracy 168). In the lobby, be sure to look up: the ceiling mural from Keith Haring’s 1986 ‘Pop Shop’ hangs above the admissions desk.
