Maizefield: Where Aaron Burr Hid After the Duel

The brick Federal-style house called Maizefield, in the village of Red Hook, was built around seventeen ninety-five and has one claim to fame that makes it unlike almost any other building in Dutchess County. In the summer of eighteen oh four, Aaron Burr is said to have been hidden here by his friend and second, David Van Ness, after killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

Burr and Hamilton met at Weehawken, New Jersey on July eleventh, eighteen oh four. Hamilton was struck and died the following day. Burr, who was the sitting vice president of the United States at the time, faced murder indictments from both New York and New Jersey. He needed somewhere to disappear while the political fury cooled. Maizefield provided that shelter. He eventually returned to Washington and completed his term as vice president, presiding over the Senate with apparent composure.

The grounds include a cottage attributed to the architect Alexander Jackson Davis, who worked extensively in the Hudson Valley. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in nineteen seventy-three. The building still stands on West Market Street in Red Hook, a quiet Federal brick house carrying a very dramatic secret.