Lower East Side

Rechtauck; Naghtogack

Description

Known as, ca 1524

The area now known as the Lower East Side was originally inhabited by Lenape people, who lived in seasonal bands as observed by the explorer, Giovanni da Verrazzano. They fished along the rivers in the summer and moved inland for crops and hunting during the fall and winter. One of their main trails followed the approximate path of modern-day Broadway. A notable encampment near Corlears Hook was called Rechtauck or Naghtogack, a place where the Lenape gathered and interacted with the land. This region's geography supported their traditional way of life.

Settled, ca 1600

In the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, most of the population lived below Fulton Street, while small plantations, called "bouwerij" (or "bowery"), were situated to the north. Enclaves of free or "half-free" Africans also settled there, particularly along the Bowery between Prince Street and Astor Place. These settlements served as a buffer between Dutch settlers and Native Americans. Over time, the area saw consolidation of these farms into larger estates, including what became the Delancey farm, which encompassed much of the Lower East Side.

Redeveloped, 1760

James Delancey's pre-Revolutionary farm in Manhattan, known as the "West Farm," gave its name to streets like Delancey Street and Orchard Street. It spanned the area from Division Street to Houston Street. In the 1760s, Delancey began surveying his land, planning a grand Delancey Square, which was to occupy a large portion of what is now the Lower East Side. However, following the American Revolution, the loyalist Delancey's land was confiscated, and the planned aristocratic square was replaced by a more practical street grid system.

Became, 1910

Lower East Side Population peaks at 500,000 making it one of the world's most densely populated places

Related People & Organizations

The Lenape Tribe

Timeline

1524+ 1

1643

1770

1795

1814

1818

1825

1826

1827

1849

1863

1886

1888

1889

1895

1898

1903+ 1

1910+ 1

1912

1913

1930

1977

1988

1989

2001

2004+ 1

2009

Images

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Images

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The Seward Park Educational Campus, home to five smaller schools

The Bowery, just south of East Houston

The East River Housing Corporation

East River Park

The Tenement Museum, on Orchard Street

The intersection of Delancey and Allen Streets

Katz’s Delicatessen

The Bowery

Baruch Houses

The East River Housing Corporation buildings

The Bialystoker Synagogue

Essex Market

Cyclists pedal toward Brooklyn on the Williamsburg Bridge

Condominium buildings on Norfolk Street tower over Delancey Street.

Columbia Street

The Williamsburg Bridge

1907 - "Imported Americans", shopping from push-carts in the lower East Side

1910 - Became

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1910 - Became - Images

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1910 - Life on the lower East Side

1524 - Known as

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1524 - Known as - Drawings and documents

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Manhattan Island in the Sixteenth Century

ASSOCIATED SITES

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Architecture

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Ansche Chesed Temple

Place of Worship

The Jarmulowsky Bank

Bank

1st Presidential Mansion

Samuel Osgood, Samuel Fraunces

Residential, Governance

Lower East Side Tenement Museum

Perkins Eastman, Li-Saltzman Architects

Museum

University Settlement

Howells & Stokes

Residential

New Museum of Contemporary Art

Sejima & Nishizawa/SANAA, Office for Metropolitan Architecture OMA

Museum

The Lowline

Raad, James Ramsey

Galleries & Art Spaces

Bialystoker Synagogue

Place of Worship

The Educational Alliance

Platt Byard Dovell White LLC (PBDW)

Civic

NYPL Seward Park Library Branch

New York Public Library, Andrew Carnegie, Babb, Cook & Willard

Library

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Guss' Pickles opens

Commerce, Culture

1st House to have gas in New York City

Samuel Leggett

Infrastructure

Ludlow Street Jail

Incarceration

When Harry Met Sally released

Meg Ryan

Film

Crossing Delancey

Film

Kieft's War

Disaster

Bank of United States

Finance

Rivington Street Shoot-Out

Crime

The Demologos launched

Robert Fulton

Invention

2nd African Burial Ground

Civil Rights, What Happened Here

Katz's Delicatessen opens

Food

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Jacob H. Schiff Fountain

Brunner & Tyron, NYC Parks Department

Fountain

Togo

Shelley Smith Curtiss

Sculpture

Delancey Orchard

Ming Fay, MTA Arts & Design

Mosaic

Henry Street Settlement

Art Space

Shad Crossing

Ming Fay, MTA Arts & Design

Mosaic

Infrastructure

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Cherry Street

Transportation

Landscape

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Seward Park

Seward Park Conservancy

Park

Planning

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Hoovervilles

Neighborhood

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37-24, 24th St, Suite 102, Long Island City, NY 11101