For decades New Yorkers celebrated Evacuation Day every November 25, a holiday marking the 1783 departure of British forces from the city they had occupied for several years during the Revolutionary War.
The events of that departure -- that evacuation -- inspired annual celebrations of patriotism, unity, and a bit of rowdiness. Evacuation Day was honored well until the late 19th century. But then, gradually, the party sort of petered out.....
Of course, Americans may know late November for another historically themed holiday – Thanksgiving, a New England-oriented celebration that eventually took the place of Evacuation Day on the American calendar. But we are here to tell you listener – you should celebrate both!
Greg and Tom tell the story of the British's final years in their former colonies, now in victory known as the United States, and their final moments within New York City, their last remaining haven. The city was in shambles and the gradual handover was truly messy.
And then, on November 25, 1783, George Washington rode into town, basically traveling from tavern to tavern on his way down to the newly freed city. The Bowery Boys chart his course (down the Bowery of course) and make note of a few unusual events -- wild parties, angry women with brooms, and one very lucky tailor.
PLUS: Where and how you can celebrate Evacuation Day today.
Other Bowery Boys episodes to check out when you're done with this one:
-- New York City During the Revolutionary War
-- The Revolutionary Tavern of Samuel Fraunces
-- The Great Fire of 1776
-- The Brooklyn Navy Yard and Vinegar Hill
#301 Haunted Houses of Old New York
#300 The Forgotten Father of New York City
#299 The Promenade and Preservation of Brooklyn Heights
#298 The Story of Brooklyn Heights
#297 Dr. Hosack's Enchanted Garden: Botany, Medicine, and Discovery in Old New York
Introducing Mob Queens
#296 Talking Trash: The NYC Department of Sanitation
#295 Saving the City: Women of the Progressive Era
#294 That Daredevil Steve Brodie, 'King of the Bowery'
Secret Places of Upper Manhattan
Sip-In At Julius': Gay New York In The 1960s
The Tombs: Five Points' Notorious House of Detention
#290 Bagels: A New York Story
Blood and Shakespeare: The Astor Place Riot of 1849
#288 The World of Tomorrow: The New York World's Fair of 1939
Greenwich Village in the 1960s
Uncovering Hudson Yards
#285 Boss Tweed's House of Corruption
Scott Joplin in New York: A Ragtime Mystery
Walt Whitman in New York and Brooklyn
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