Tour US Revolutionary War Conference House

Getting There We meet up at the corner of Broadway & Morris Street in Lower Manhattan, just a short walk from the Staten Island Ferry terminal. It's a quiet Sunday morning in the financial district, so the area is calm and easy to navigate. If you arrive early you can grab coffee. At 10:23 AM, we board the SIM1C express bus. the route The SIM1C runs from Manhattan across the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to Staten Island, taking about 40 minutes depending on traffic. The ride gives us a nice view of the harbor and the bridge as we cross over to the island. In my experience traffic has been reasonable at this time. Once we get off the SIM1C, we transfer to the S78, a local bus that heads south along Hylan Boulevard through neighborhoods like Great Kills and Bay Terrace before reaching Tottenville — the southernmost settlement in New York State. The ride is straightforward, mostly residential streets and local shops. We get off near the entrance to Conference House Park and walk a short distance through the grounds — a mix of open meadow, marshland, and trees — until we reach the stone manor overlooking Raritan Bay. The house opens for tours at noon, so we should arrive with a little time to spare, Touring the Conference House The Conference House offers tours on Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM at $10 per person. We pay our admission and head inside for the guided tour, which walks us through the house's history room by room. The Conference House — originally called the Billopp House — was built around 1680 by Captain Christopher Billopp, an English immigrant who established a wheat farm on the southern tip of Staten Island. The building is a two-story stone masonry structure with a steep gable roof, brick gable ends, and parapets. A kitchen wing was added in the 18th century. It stayed in the Billopp family for several generations. The reason this house is historically significant is the peace conference that occurred here on September 11, 1776 — less than three months after the Declaration of Independence was signed. By this point, the Revolutionary War had begun but hadn't yet escalated into a prolonged conflict, and both sides were still exploring whether a negotiated settlement was possible. British Admiral Lord Richard Howe, commander of British forces in North America, had been given limited authority by King George III to try to negotiate a reconciliation with the colonies. He invited delegates from the Continental Congress to meet at the Billopp house, which was then owned by Colonel Christopher Billopp, the captain's great-grandson and a Loyalist who commanded a Tory regiment. Three Continental Congress delegates accepted: Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge. They rowed across from patriot-held Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and were escorted to the house through lines of grenadier guards with fixed bayonets. John Adams later described the guards as "looking as fierce as ten furies." The meeting itself lasted a few hours and was described as cordial but ultimately unsuccessful. Lord Howe wanted the colonies to return to British allegiance. The American delegates made it clear they would only negotiate as representatives of an independent nation, not as British subjects. Neither side would compromise on that fundamental point, and the conference ended without agreement. This was the only formal face-to-face diplomatic meeting between the British government and the American revolutionaries during the entire Revolutionary War. If the negotiations had succeeded, American independence might not have happened — or at least not in the form it did. The war continued for seven more years after this meeting. The fact that the house still stands gives visitors a direct connection to the room where Franklin, Adams, and Rutledge sat across from Lord Howe and effectively decided there was no going back. The Conference House is both a New York City Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. It's located within the Ward's Point Conservation Area, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The Conference House Association operates the site in partnership with NYC Parks and the Historic House Trust, and hosts a reenactment of the peace conference every September. Wrapping Up the Day After the tour, we spend some time exploring Conference House Park itself. The grounds include waterfront trails along Raritan Bay, open meadows, and wooded areas. It's a pleasant spot to walk around, especially on a late summer afternoon. There are benches with views of the water and the New Jersey shoreline across the bay. We catch the S78 back to connect with the SIM1C for the return trip to Manhattan, wrapping up what turns out to be a genuinely interesting and low-key day out — a bit of transit, a bit of history, and a part of New York City that most people never visit. Practical Notes: Tours: Weekends, 12–4 PM, $10/person. More info at conferencehouse.org Wear comfortable walking shoes for the park trails Bring water — the grounds are fairly exposed to sun in August Check MTA schedules ahead of time for the SIM1C and S78, as weekend service can vary. I will double check return options closer to the day but it seems there are buses and at least one train back at 3:30 and 4:00 - ish.