How a 200-year-old Underground Railroad stop was just discovered in New York City

For the first time in over a century, historians say a new stop on the Underground Railroad has been discovered, fully intact, in New York City.

For the first time in over a century, historians say a new stop on the Underground Railroad has been discovered, fully intact, in New York City.

The site is hidden in the Merchant's House Museum, the only 19th-century home in Manhattan with both its interior and exterior preserved.

Tucked away in the walls on the second-floor is a chest of drawers that visitors have walked past for decades. But inside one of the drawer shelves is a hidden passageway -- just barely large enough for an upright person to fit through, leading 15 feet underground. 

Museum staff have known about the existence of the passageway since the 1930s. However, they were only able to officially link it to the now-iconic Underground Railroad recently, after years of research.

That journey began two years ago when the museum's historian, Ann Haddad, discovered that the builder and designer of the house, Joseph Brewster, was an abolitionist. That set off a muti-pronged effort by staff, volunteers and outside experts to research everything from general history of New York City, Brewster's life and architecture of the time.