Last updated: August 26, 2026
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A Timeline of Theodore Roosevelt’s Birthplace
The history of the park’s land reflects the story of the island where it is located. Explore the timeline of people who lived where Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site is today on Manhattan Island in New York City, New York.
Lenape
Lenape migrated from the Delaware River Gap in approximately 2000 BCE. They spoke the Munsee dialect of Algonquian. “Manhattan” comes from the Lenape word “Manahatta,” meaning “hilly island.”
Natural resources on the island were plentiful. Lenape hunted deer, collected shellfish and mollusks, and gathered seasonal fruit, roots, and nuts. They planted a combination of corn, beans, and squash known as “The Three Sisters.”
There was a footpath near the park that was a major north-south travel route. Lenape likely used the trail for hunting in the area.
Early European Explorers and Colonists
Lenape were among the first North American Indigenous peoples to interact with Europeans in the early 17th century.
Dutch explorers, traders, and settlers introduced diseases to the continent, such as smallpox. These diseases killed thousands of Lenape who had no prior immunity.
New Amsterdam and Fort
Holland claimed the area as part of a province of the Dutch Republic in 1609. New Amsterdam was formally established in 1624. It was an outpost run by the Dutch West India Company.
A fort was built at the southern tip of Manhattan. There were six scattered farmland plots outside of the fort, each commonly called a “bowery.”
Bowery 1 was the largest and northernmost plot. It was designated for the current director-general of the Dutch West India Company. The land where the current-day Birthplace sits is located at the edge of this bowery.
The park’s location traded hands to Dutch West India Company directors over time, including: Willem Verlhulst, Peter Minuit, Wouter Van Twiller, Willem Kieft, and Peter Stuyvesant.
Peter Stuyvesant was the last director-general of New Amsterdam and the last director to own the property where the park sits today. He purchased Bowery 1 and parts of Bowery 2 in 1651.
Edwin Smith, “Map of the Lower Division of the Lands of Samuel B. Ruggles in the Twelfth Ward of the City of New York,” December 31, 1831. Engraving by D.R. Harrison.
Samuel B. Ruggles papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library
New York
England and the Dutch Republic were at war over trade disputes from 1652-1654. In 1664, England sent four warships to New Amsterdam demanding New Amsterdam be surrendered despite it being a time of peace.
New Amsterdam became New York in 1664 under the Articles of Capitulation. Blood was not spilled during this surrender, but it led to the Second Ango-Dutch War.
Peter Stuyvesant was allowed to keep his land under the new English rule. He died in 1672, when his son Nicolaes inherited his properties. Nicolaes died in 1698 and his son Gerardus likely had to come of age before he could officially claim the property.
James Duane purchased this parcel of the land from Gerardus Stuyvesant in 1761. He built a country estate on it and lived there for the rest of his life.
Duane was most known as a Founding Father during the American Revolution. His extensive career also included being an attorney, delegate to the First and Second Continental Congress, New York state senator, and 45th mayor of New York City.
The land stayed in the family after his death in 1797. It passed to his daughter Catharine L. Duane.
Catharine Duane sold the land to Samuel Ruggles in 1831. Ruggles drained the swampland nearby and established Gramercy Park. He built various retail structures. Theodore Roosevelt’s birthplace sits on the footprint of one of these retail structures.
The retail structures are torn down in 1848 to make way for a row of identical brownstone townhouses on East 20th Street. Two of these brownstones at 26 and 28 East 20th Street stayed on the market for two years. They were bought by Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt’s grandfather.
The Roosevelts
Cornelius Van Schaak Roosesevelt’s son Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., and his wife Martha Bullock Roosevelt moved into the townhouse in 1854 as a wedding present. Their son Theodore was born in the brownstone on October 27, 1858.
The younger Theodore Roosevelt would later become the 26th president of the United States. He spent most of his childhood in his birthplace. He was very sickly while living in the brownstone and fought fiercely to overcome his illnesses. The young Roosevelt was also considered very bright with a love of learning that he was famous for later in life.
The family moved uptown to a mansion at 6 West 57th Street in 1872. They sold the brownstone at 28 East 20th Street as a commercial space. It changed hands numerous times over the next few decades. It was even the “Roosevelt House,” home to a fan club dedicated to Theodore at one point.
Theodore Roosevelt's birthplace. 28 East 20th Street, New York. Apr. 25. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2013645493/>.
Women’s Roosevelt Memorial Association
The original structure where Theodore Roosevelt was born was torn down in 1916. Another commercial building was put in its place. Roosevelt soon passed away at the age of 60 in 1919. Afterwards his sisters and his widow formed the Women’s Roosevelt Memorial Association (WRMA).
One of the goals of the WRMA was to build a shrine to Roosevelt’s life. The WRMA bought the lots at both 26 and 28 East 20th Street. A replica of the Roosevelt childhood home was designed in the 28 East 20th Street lot with an added museum space in the 26 East 20th Street lot.
The fundraising and building process began in 1920 and the structure was completed in 1921. It opened to the public as “The Roosevelt House” in 1923.
The Roosevelt House was privately operated until 1963. During that year, both Roosevelt’s birthplace in Manhattan and summer home on Long Island known as Sagamore Hill became part of the National Park System. This property was given the designation “Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site.”
The National Park Service
Today, visitors can explore the story of Theodore Roosevelt’s young life, including his struggles with asthma and his early love of reading and nature.
Recreated period rooms allow a glimpse into the past. A museum gallery adds details and context to unwind the site’s history. Park rangers interpret and guide visitors to form their own personal connections to the site. Concerts and lectures are held to maintain the connection between the Birthplace and the surrounding community.
Through protection and preservation, Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site will continue to educate and inspire the public for years to come.