Must See Museums in Lower Manhattan

Most visitors who go to lower Manhattan do so to visit the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Stock Exchange and unfortunately Ground Zero. But here is a list of ten other museums worth checking out when you go downtown.

1) Museum of American Finance located at 28 Broadway. This museum celebrates the entrepreneurship and the free-market system that helped make New York the financial capital of the world.

2) Fraunces Tavern Museum located at 54 Pearl Street and Broad Street. The museum celebrates the history of the American Revolution. The museum's collection includes prints, paintings and military objects dating from the colonial period to the mid 19^th century. This is also the site of George Washington's farewell address to his troops.

3) The New York City Police Museum located at 100 Old Slip between Water Street and South Street. This building was New York City's first police station. You will be able to see mug shots from the 19^th century and see what a 19^th century jail cell looked like. You will be able to see the complete history of New York's Finest.

4) Federal Hall National Memorial located at 26^th Wall Street between Nassau and William Street. This is the site where George Washington took the oath of office to become the first President of the United States. This building also served as US Capitol and the meeting place of the United States Congress as well as New York City's City Hall

5) National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution located at One Bowling Green between State Street and Whitehall Street. This museum offers exhibits, music and dance performances that explore the history of Native Americans.

6) The Skyscraper Museum located at 39 Battery Place and First Place. This museum celebrates New York City's architectural history and the individuals that help transform the magnificent New York City skyline.

7) Museum of Jewish Heritage located at 36 Battery Place and First Place. This is a living memorial to the holocaust with exhibits that teach about 20^th century Jewish life.

8) Museum of Chinese in the Americas located at 70 Mulberry Street. Located in the heart of Chinatown this museum celebrates the history of the Chinese people and their Western Hemisphere descendants.

9) Lower East Side Tenement Museum located 108 Orchard Street. This museum looks at immigrant life in the turn of the century and present day. The main attraction is a tenement building that served as a home to over 7000 immigrants between 1863-1935.

10) The New York City Fire Museum located at 278 Spring Street between Varick Street and Hudson Street. This museum is a renovated 1904 fire house. This museum contains artifacts that go as far back as the 18^th century such as leather buckets, helmets and hand pumped fire engines. There is also a permanent September 11 memorial honoring all the firefighters who perished on that faithful day.