In April 1790, the newly elected first President of the United States, George Washington, returned to Long Island on a Grand Tour. The last time George Washington had been on Long Island was during the infamous retreat and loss of the patriot cause resulting from defeat in the August 1776 Battle of Long Island. By 1790, Long Island was redefining itself after the war and the destruction from fourteen years of occupation. George Washington’s presidential tour signaled a new era of rebuilding, growth, and establishment of the democratic republic. This exhibit features the stops President Washington made on the North Shore of Long Island and the people he visited.
