McGown's Pass Tavern
McGown's Pass Tavern was a Central Park refreshment house and saloon associated with the historic McGowan's Pass area of northern Manhattan.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
McGown's Pass Tavern was a late-nineteenth-century refreshment house and tavern in Central Park, New York City. It stood near the historic route now known as McGowan's Pass, a steep and strategically important passage in northern Manhattan. The establishment was not a modern corporate brand but a local hospitality business whose identity developed from the area's colonial and Revolutionary-era associations. The site had been connected with public houses since the eighteenth century. In the 1740s, Jacob Dyckman, Jr. operated a public house known as At the Sign of the Black Horse. In 1756, the property passed to Daniel McGown and Catherine Benson McGown, who ran the tavern with their son Andrew. The family name became attached to the pass and surrounding locality, although historical sources use both McGowan and McGown spellings. After the Revolutionary War, the premises were operated by John Leggett as Leggett's Halfway Tavern. The area later acquired a different identity through Mount St. Vincent's Academy, a convent school established around the former McGown property. During the American Civil War, the academy's former facilities became the U.S. General Hospital, also called St. Joseph's Military Hospital. When Central Park was developed and expanded northward, the landscape was reshaped around the Harlem Meer, military earthworks, and the new East Drive. The old school grounds were subsequently used for several public and recreational purposes, including a sculpture museum and a tavern. A refreshment house called Mount St. Vincent's Hotel opened at the site in 1883 or 1884. Patrick H. McCann served as proprietor until 1890. Because visitors sometimes confused the tavern with the nearby convent school of the same general name, the Park Commission adopted the name McGown's Pass for the locality and renamed the roadhouse McGown's Pass Tavern. The new name deliberately revived the area's older tavern and family associations. McCann's tenure became politically controversial. During the Fassett Investigation in 1890, he testified that he had lost his lease after refusing to provide free entertainment to Tammany Hall leader Richard Croker, Mayor Hugh Grant, and their associates. McCann also claimed that the restaurant was subsequently disparaged as a disreputable place. After McCann, the tavern was leased by Gabriel Case and later by John Scherz. The tavern operated as a convivial Central Park drinking and refreshment venue rather than as a chain or nationally distributed brand. Its clientele and setting reflected the changing social character of the park, which by then served as a major public recreation ground. In 1906, a plaque commemorating the McGown family and the pass was installed near the Fort Clinton memorial. The tavern closed in 1915, and its furniture, equipment, sporting prints, and the tavern's yellow parrot, known as Old Gabe, were sold at auction. The surviving driveways and foundations were later incorporated into Central Park maintenance operations, while the Central Park Conservancy has used the former site as a composting area and referred to it as The Mount.
History
The history associated with McGown's Pass Tavern reaches back to the colonial settlement of northern Manhattan. Before Central Park existed, the area formed part of the commons of Nieuw Haarlem and later passed into private ownership. In the 1740s, Jacob Dyckman, Jr. held land along the pass, planted orchards, and established a public house called At the Sign of the Black Horse. During a yellow-fever epidemic in 1752, the Colonial Assembly temporarily used the tavern while meeting away from lower Manhattan. In 1756, Dyckman sold the Harlem property to his in-laws Daniel McGown and Catherine Benson McGown. The McGowns, together with their son Andrew, continued operating the Black Horse Tavern through the Revolutionary period. The family name became associated with the pass, which occupied high ground on an important north-south route. During the British occupation of New York from 1776 to 1783, the pass was near a Hessian encampment and formed part of the route between the city and Fort Knyphausen, also known as Fort Washington. British and Hessian troops passed through the area during the evacuation of northern Manhattan, and George Washington used the route when returning to New York on Evacuation Day in 1783. Following the war, John Leggett and his family occupied the former Black Horse premises and operated them as Leggett's Halfway Tavern. The surrounding landscape remained strategically significant during the War of 1812, when nearby defenses included Blockhouse No. 1, Fort Clinton, Fort Fish, and Nutter's Battery. Some earthworks and structures survived as the area was later incorporated into Central Park. The former tavern property gained a religious and institutional identity in the nineteenth century. Mount St. Vincent's Academy, a convent school, built a chapel around the old McGown house in 1847. During the Civil War, after the academy moved north, the facilities were converted into the U.S. General Hospital, also called St. Joseph's Military Hospital, and remained in that use from 1862 to 1865. Frederick Law Olmsted and his family lived in the Mount St. Vincent's buildings from 1859 to 1863 while Olmsted directed the creation of Central Park. As the park developed, the Park Commission leased the former school grounds for uses that included a sculpture museum and a tavern. The Harlem Meer was formed north of the pass, and East Drive was built through the landscape with sharp curves that bypassed the water and incorporated portions of earlier military earthworks. In 1883 or 1884, a refreshment house called Mount St. Vincent's Hotel opened at the site. Patrick H. McCann was its proprietor until 1890; Gabriel Case and later John Scherz subsequently leased and operated the establishment. The name created practical confusion because visitors looking for Mount St. Vincent's Academy could instead be taken to a lively saloon in Central Park. The Park Commission therefore standardized the locality as McGown's Pass and renamed the roadhouse McGown's Pass Tavern. The spelling preserved on official maps and signs was McGown's, although McGowan's is also used in historical descriptions. The tavern's best-documented controversy occurred during the Fassett Investigation in 1890. McCann stated that his lease had been lost because he would not provide free entertainment for Richard Croker, Hugh Grant, and their political allies. He further alleged that the same political figures attacked the tavern's reputation by portraying it as a disreputable establishment. The testimony connected the small park business to the broader patronage and political culture associated with Tammany Hall. The tavern continued operating after the controversy but closed in 1915. Its remaining contents were auctioned, reportedly including furniture, equipment, sporting prints, and a yellow parrot called Old Gabe. The structure itself disappeared as an operating venue, but portions of its access drives and foundations remained useful to Central Park management. In later years the Central Park Conservancy used the former site as a composting area and called it The Mount. The tavern's legacy consequently survives less as a continuing hospitality brand than as part of the historical landscape and layered place-name history of northern Central Park.
- 1915
Tavern closes
[1]The venue shut down and its furnishings, equipment, sporting prints, and parrot were auctioned.
- 1906
McGown memorial plaque installed
[1]A plaque commemorating the McGown family and the pass was placed near the Fort Clinton memorial.
- 1890
The tavern name and lease become subjects of controversy
[1]During the Fassett Investigation, proprietor Patrick H. McCann gave testimony about his lost lease and alleged political pressure.
- 1883
Mount St. Vincent's Hotel opens
[1]A refreshment house opened at the former school grounds, later becoming the establishment known as McGown's Pass Tavern.
- 1862
Former academy becomes a military hospital
[1]The former Mount St. Vincent's facilities were used as the U.S. General Hospital, also known as St. Joseph's Military Hospital, during the Civil War.
- 1847
Mount St. Vincent's chapel is built
[1]A chapel for Mount St. Vincent's Academy was constructed around the old McGown house, giving the site a new institutional identity.
- 1783
Washington passes through the area on Evacuation Day
[1]George Washington used the route when reentering New York after the British evacuation.
- 1776
McGowan's Pass becomes a Revolutionary War military route
[1]During the British occupation of New York, the pass served as high ground and lay near a Hessian encampment on the route through northern Manhattan.
- 1756
McGown family takes over the Black Horse Tavern
[1]Daniel McGown and Catherine Benson McGown acquired the property and operated the public house with their son Andrew, helping attach the family name to the nearby pass.
Products and positioning
A historic Central Park roadhouse and refreshment venue serving park visitors in a socially convivial setting, with branding rooted in the colonial-era McGown family and the geography of northern Manhattan.
Hospitality · 1883
Refreshments and tavern service
The establishment operated as a Central Park refreshment house, roadhouse, and saloon. Available descriptions identify food, refreshments, beverages, and convivial social service rather than a documented packaged-product range. Its principal offering was an on-site hospitality experience for park visitors.
Controversies
1890
Fassett Investigation testimony
Patrick H. McCann testified that he lost his lease after refusing to provide free entertainment to Richard Croker, Hugh Grant, and their political associates. He also alleged that the politicians retaliated by portraying the tavern as a disreputable venue.
Brand decisions
1915
Closure and liquidation of tavern contentsOtherBackground
The historic park tavern had reached the end of its operating life.
Action taken
The venue was closed and its furniture, equipment, sporting prints, and yellow parrot were sold at auction.
Aftermath
The former driveways and foundations remained part of the Central Park landscape and were later used for park maintenance.
1890
Adoption of the McGown's Pass Tavern nameStrategyBackground
Visitors reportedly confused the Mount St. Vincent's Hotel with the nearby Mount St. Vincent's convent school.
Action taken
The Park Commission designated the locality McGown's Pass and renamed the roadhouse McGown's Pass Tavern, drawing on the area's older McGown family and Black Horse Tavern associations.
Aftermath
The name linked the venue to the historic geography of northern Central Park, although the tavern itself closed in 1915.
Sources1 sources
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