Show, book and places recall story of Alexander Hamilton

NEW YORK — It’s a fine time for history geeks with a thing for Alexander Hamilton. A hip-hop-and-history musical called “Hamilton” — inspired by an 800-page biography — just opened off-Broadway and is sold out for months. Fans of the man, book or musical can visit a variety of places connected to Hamilton, from his Harlem home to the New Jersey waterfront where he was shot in a duel.

Don’t know much about the Founding Father pictured on the $10 bill? Here’s the elevator pitch: Hamilton was a penniless orphan from the Caribbean who was so brilliant — and so good at self-promotion — that he rose through the ranks in the Revolutionary War to become George Washington’s right-hand man. As the first U.S. Treasury Secretary, Hamilton created a modern financial system, funded the national debt, founded a bank and established a mint with the dollar as currency. He defended the Constitution in the Federalist Papers, founded the New York Post, and was even involved in a sex scandal, the Reynolds Affair.

Hamilton also had a lifelong rivalry with Aaron Burr, the vice president under Thomas Jefferson. Burr claimed Hamilton insulted him and challenged him to a duel. Each man fired one shot; Hamilton missed.

Here are some places around Manhattan and New Jersey connected to Hamilton’s life and death.

• DINNER PARTY AT THE MANSION.

It’s one of the most impressive dinner parties ever held in New York: On July 10, 1790, President Washington hosted his cabinet in the dining room of the Morris-Jumel Mansion. Guests included Hamilton and two future presidents, Vice-President John Adams and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. The mansion had served as Washington’s military headquarters in 1776.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator and star of the musical “Hamilton,” grew up near Washington Heights, where the mansion is located, and wrote a hit musical about the neighborhood called “In the Heights.” But Miranda wasn’t familiar with the Jumel mansion until he worked on “Hamilton.” He even spent time in the mansion writing part of the show.

• UPTOWN HOME: THE GRANGE.

The Grange was built in Harlem in 1802 as a country manor for Hamilton’s family. Ron Chernow, author of the “Hamilton” biography, says The Grange is his “favorite spot to commune with Hamilton’s ghost.” Artifacts include Hamilton’s roll-top desk, which Chernow says “received a lot of use” because Hamilton “was a compulsive writer.”

• DUEL AND DEATH.

The Burr-Hamilton duel took place July 11, 1804, across from Manhattan in Weehawken, N.J. Now called Hamilton Park, the Hudson River site includes a plaque and bust. Hamilton died a day later in Manhattan’s West Village; a sign at 82 Jane Street marks the site.

He’s buried at Trinity Church at Broadway and Wall Street, alongside his widow, Elizabeth, who outlived him by 50 years.