Even though New Amsterdam was established as a company town and it was Dutch for only 40 years, it established New York as one of the most successful, tolerant cities.  

Mill Lane - 1628 - What may be the narrowest path in New York dates to the early Dutch colonists. It was originally called Elliot's Alley and probably takes its current name from a mill built to grind the bark that the tanners used.

The Great Dock - 1659 - The Great Dock of New Amsterdam was the only pier that projected into the Hudson River for till the 1770's. It handled all the large ships arriving to the colony. In 1664, for instance, the Dutch ship Gideon arrived from Angola with with a cargo of 291 Africans which was the largest shipment of enslaved men, women, and children brought to the Dutch colony. The Dutch West India Company relied on Africans to build homes, fortifications, and even the Great Dock. Before the Gideon could be loaded again for its return trip, British warships arrived. Without a single shot being fired, New Amsterdam became New York, and about 150 Dutch soldiers marched onto the Gideon to sail home.Initially, New York was indistinguishable from New Amsterdam. By the 1670s, however, the English governors began to make their own improvements to the city. In 1675, the canal (Heere Gracht) was filled in and the wooden pier was replaced with the Great Dock – a stone pier surrounded by a breakwater. As trade increased so too did the population: from some 3000 in 1680 to nearly 5000 by 1700.

Dutch Homes in New Amsterdam - 1600 - Most houses in New Amsterdam in 1657 were of wood with roofs thatched with the local reeds and probably had clapboard siding. From the Prototype View and Castello plan most houses appear to have one story with a garret. Almost all buildings have their gable-end facing the street. Around the 1660's 28 houses stood north of Beaver Street. The houses bordered the open ditch that persisted in this area.

The Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam - 1628 - The Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam, first worshipped in a wooden structure on Pearl Street until 1642.

1st Public Water Well - 1677 - Dug at Ft James (originally, Fort Amsterdam) to supply water for tea. The first public well was dug in New Amsterdam in 1658 in front of the old fort just south of Bowling Green. It was the only public well in the city until 1677, when several more were ordered to be dug. Over the years, many more were sunk at busy street corners. These wells used primitive buckets that were gradually replaced with pumps. As the city`s population increased, the water became brackish and polluted by organic matter and inefficient in supply. A few wells had tapped into underground springs, some of which supplied the water to Collect Pond. This water was reputed to be fresh and of superior quality.

The Old Post Office (formerly the Middle Dutch Church) - 1729 - The Middle Dutch Church was built between 1726 and 1731, a vestige of Manhattan’s Dutch Reformed community that traced itself back to New Amsterdam‘s very first house of worship.

Dutch Ship "Tijger" discovered in Lower Manhattan - 1613 - Tyger was the ship used by Dutch explorer Adriaen Block during his 1613 voyage along the East Coast of North America and the Hudson River.

Middle Collegiate Church - 1628 - The congregation was founded. It is one of the oldest continuous Protestant congregations in North America.

A Charter for New Amsterdam - 1653 - New Amsterdam received municipal rights on February 2, 1653, thus becoming a city. Stuyvesant had received word by June 1652 that he could establish a city government, but waited until February 2nd, 1653, Candlemas Day. In Amsterdam, this was the day the Burgomasters and Schepens traditionally took their oaths of office. On this day he issued a lengthy document (a copy of this document is in the New York Public Library) that related how the Directors in Holland would “favor this new and growing city of New Amsterdam and the inhabitants thereof with a court of justice, to be constituted as far as possible… according to the laudable custom of the city of Amsterdam, name-giver to this newly developing city.”

Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam - 1647 - Peter Stuyvesant, born around 1612, studied at the University of Franeker before joining the Dutch West India Company. After holding positions in Brazil and Curaçao, he became the acting governor of the latter in 1642. In 1644, during an attack on Saint Martin, Stuyvesant lost his leg, earning him the nickname "Peg Leg Pete." 

New Amsterdam Plein and Pavilion - 2011 - A gift from the Kingdom of the Netherlands to New York City in honor of the 400th Anniversary in 2009 of Henry Hudson`s arrival in New York Harbor. The pavilion and plein (Dutch for "plaza") is located in Peter Minuit Plaza on State Street at the intersection of Whitehall Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan.An area to showcase art, design, and horticulture, it was conceived as an "outdoor living room" where both scheduled and spontaneous activities can take place alongside public markets and a state of the art, food and information pavilion.

1st Brewery in New Amsterdam - 1612 - The 1st brewery was built in a log cabin as part of several structures in a fort erected by Dutch colonists Adrian Block and Hans Christiansen around 1612 on the southern tip of Manhattan.

Fire Ordinance enacted in New Amsterdam - 1648 - Fire Ordinance enacted mandating the cleaning of chimneys and the purchase of ladders and buckets and establishing 8 fire wardens.

Wall of New Amsterdam is built - 1653 - Built by slaves along the northern edge of the settlement; the path along it became known as Waal Strat."In 1653 the city of New Amsterdam erected a wall along the northern edge of town to protect the inhabitants from attack. This wall, five to six feet high, was constructed of heavy planks laid horizontally and ran from the Hudson River to the East River on the line of present-day Wall Street. Frequently in need of repair, the wall was abandoned by 1699."A gang of black men labored as long as daylight allowed, digging a three-foot-deep trench from the East River all the way across Manhattan Island to the Hudson River. The trench followed a rough path that ran along the north edge of the village. It was March 1653, and Governor Stuyvesant had been sent orders to fortify New Amsterdam. English warships were gathering in Boston Harbor, readying to sail south and take the Dutch colony.The men digging the trench had names such as Paulo d’Angola, Simon Congo, and Anthony Portuguese. As their names showed, many were Africans who had worked aboard Spanish or Portuguese ships before the Dutch seized them. These Africans were owned by the Dutch West India Company, but some had gained a form of half-freedom. They worked for themselves, but owed the company labor whenever needed. Half-free or enslaved, they could own property, testify in court, bear arms in emergencies, attend church, and marry. But their children were not free.When the Africans finished the trench, they formed a wall by standing big logs into it. Each log was 18 inches around and 12 feet long. Then they pounded dirt and stones back into the trench around the base of each log to make the wall strong. They built blockhouses at the ends of the wall, and gates were added where roads ran through it. But as soon as the wall was finished, it was no longer needed. The Netherlands and England had signed a peace treaty. However, the wall built by the Africans gave the rough path that eventually became a street with a new name—Wall Street.

Fort Amsterdam - 1625 - A fort on the southern tip of Manhattan at the confluence of the Hudson and East rivers. It was the administrative headquarters for the Dutch and then English/British rule of the colony of New Netherland and subsequently the Province of New York from 1625 or 1626. It was the nucleus of the settlement in the area that became New Amsterdam and eventually New York City. It marked the official founding of New York City. The fort was designed by Kryn Fredericksen, chief engineer of the New Netherland colony. Fort Amsterdam was designed to be a state-of-the-art diamond-shaped fort, built of stone and bristling with cannon. The designer warned against building it in haste. However, in 1625, the town was in desperate need of houses, so a much simpler fort was planned. It would be roughly a square of four simple brick walls, mounded over with dirt.To build the fort, Peter Minuit needed laborers, and in 1626 he got just what he needed. The Dutch West India Company sent the first African “bondsmen” to New Amsterdam. Some of their names described their origins: Antony Congo, Paulo d’Angola, Pieter San Tomé, Anthony the Portuguese, Jan Fort Orange. Many of the men had been captured from Spanish or Portuguese ships. They were experienced seamen who already understood some European languages, religions, and laws.For 10 years the men worked to build the fort. They dug up tree stumps, hauled dirt, mounded it up over the fort walls, and battered it down firmly. Finally, the Africans covered the earthen walls of the fort with sod. But as soon as it was finished, the fort began to crumble. The settlers didn’t usually fence their animals, so goats, sheep, and cattle strayed onto the weedy slopes to graze. Pigs went there to dig or rout in the dirt walls. In the words of one settler, the fort soon looked “like a molehill or a tottering wall.” But the Africans were busy elsewhere. They had to dig ditches, clear land, plant and harvest crops, build houses, roads, and bridges, and load the Company’s ships with thousands of pelts of beaver, mink, otter, and wildcat.

1st Street Cleaning Law in New Amsterdam - 1657 - The ordinance states, "It has been found, that within this City of Amsterdam in New Netherland many burghers and inhabitants throw their rubbish, filth, ashes, dead animals and suchlike things into the public streets to the great inconvenience of the community".

New Amsterdam enacts the first speed limit law in North America - 1652 - The Director and Council of the New Netherland ‘in order to prevent accidents’ passed an ordinance stating that ‘no Wagons, Carts or Sleighs shall be run, rode or driven at a gallop within this city of New Amsterdam’ except along the main street (Broadway).  A fine of two pounds Flemish was also established for the first offense.

New York named New Orange - 1673 - In August 1673, the Dutch navy captured New York from the English during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. The Dutch renamed the city New Orange and re-established New Netherland as a Dutch colony. Anthony Colve was named the new governor.