There isn't much left from the Dutch settlement of Nieuw Amsterdam. &nbsp;400 years ago when Henry Hudson sailed into the New York Harbor, looking for a quick ice-free passage to Asia.&nbsp;

Gezicht op Nieuw Amsterdam by Johannes Vingboons (1664), an early picture of Nieuw Amsterdam made in the year when it was conquered by the English under Richard Nicolls.Step into the past - In 1665, the famous Dutch mapmaker Johannes Vingboons painted this charming and now iconic watercolor of New Amsterdam, which he adapted from a far less complimentary sketch intended to portray a settlement in dire need of funds from the Dutch West India Company. Nationaal Archief, National Archives of The Netherlands.<a href="https://culturenow.org/people/a52f63a6-9f96-47c6-8768-8ac4665891fe?name=National_Parks_of_New_York_Harbor_Conservancy">[1]</a>In 1665, the famous Dutch mapmaker Johannes Vingboons painted this charming and now iconic watercolor of New Amsterdam, which he adapted from a far less complimentary sketch intended to portray a settlement in dire need of funds from the Dutch West India Company. - Nationaal Archief, National Archives of The Netherlands<a href="https://culturenow.org/people/a52f63a6-9f96-47c6-8768-8ac4665891fe?name=National_Parks_of_New_York_Harbor_Conservancy">[2]</a>

Manhattan circa 1609 and 2009 - Eric Sanderson, senior ecologist of the Mannahatta Project of the Wildlife Conservation Society, applied computational geography to 18th century British war maps to visualize the original landscape of Manhattan in the hours before Henry Hudson arrived. “Right on the tip of Manhattan there would have been a sandy beach,” says Sanderson. “One of the things that’s common through a lot of the accounts is the description of the air. Apparently, it was very sweet smelling. You could smell it for hundreds of miles off shore. There were streams, over 66 miles of streams and about 21 fresh water ponds and salt ponds all over the island.”<a href="https://culturenow.org/people/a52f63a6-9f96-47c6-8768-8ac4665891fe?name=National_Parks_of_New_York_Harbor_Conservancy">[1]</a>The original settlers, the Lenni-Lenape, called it Mannahatta or Island of Hills because there were over 500 hills, some as high as 270 feet. “If Mannahatta existed today as it did then, it would be a national park — it would be the crowning glory of American national parks,” says Sanderson, also author of Mannahatta: The National History of New York City, with illustrations by Markley Boyer (Manhattan, circa 1609 and 2009 on this page).<a href="https://culturenow.org/people/a52f63a6-9f96-47c6-8768-8ac4665891fe?name=National_Parks_of_New_York_Harbor_Conservancy">[2]</a>

New Amsterdam : New York 400 Years

The Jewish Arrival tour ends at the Shearith Israel Graveyard. While some Jewish communities in New York considered America their new religious home, others wanted to form a Jewish base in Israel. James Kaplan discusses the founding the State of Israel and its roots with the first Jewish immigrants to New York City. 

 Architectural historian Gail Cornell talks about the history of Foley Square and the African Burial Ground. 

 Jean Parker Phifer, NYC architect and author of Public Art New York, reads a selection about The Battery, located in downtown Manhattan. 

 Warrie Price discusses the new landscape of Battery Park, including the Gardens of Remembrance, a new fountain, and a food kiosk. 

Warrie Price discusses the future projects planned for Battery Park, including architect Frank Gehry's plans to build a play area and the ongoing project to wind the Hudson River bike path through the park.

 Architectural historian Gail Cornell talks about the history of the Surrogate's Courthouse on Chambers Street. 

 The second stop on the Great Crash of 1929: Tour of the Financial District is the British Memorial Garden, which was dedicated to the United Kingdom after in memory of the 67 British subjects killed in the September 11 attacks. At this location once stood a statue of Colonial Mayor Abraham De Peyster, which now sits in a Parks Department warehouse. 

 Mayor Abraham De Peyster (1657&ndash;1728) was born in New Amsterdam, now known as Manhattan. De Peyster came from a prosperous mercantile family. He was influential in the young city; he had many positions, including alderman, mayor, member of the king&rsquo;s council, and acting governor. By the end of his life, De Peyster was allegedly one of the city&rsquo;s wealthiest inhabitants. The sculpture was removed and put into storage in 2003 to make room for the British Memorial Garden. 

Historian and lawyer James Kaplan asks listeners to use their imaginations as he describes the site of Shearith Israel Synagogue that once stood near 22 William Street. The first synagogue in North America, it was built in 1730. As the surrounding neighborhood - which would become the Financial District - became more industrial, congregants left the site to build synagogues in Greenwich Village and Upper West Side.

Henry Hudson’s small wooden sailing vessel, the Half Moon, arrived in September 1609, exploring the area for the Dutch, setting in motion a historic transformation. Then, in 1624, another Dutch vessel arrived, bearing the first settlers of the colony of New Netherland.&nbsp;

The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island speak to the city’s ideals of freedom and promise and its long relationship with the water, from clipper ships to World War II battleships to commuter ferries. Several groups of Munsee people inhabited the wider region for centuries — a homeland stretching from Connecticut through New York and New Jersey to Delaware — and moved seasonally from the mainland to the island they called Manahatta, which translates roughly as “place of wood for making bows,” to fish and hunt.

Henry Hudson’s small wooden sailing vessel, the Half Moon, appearing on the horizon in September 1609, as he charted the area for the Dutch, setting in motion a historic transformation. Then, in 1624, another Dutch vessel arrived, bearing the first settlers of the colony of New Netherland.

Netherland Memorial Flagpole

A group of 32 Belgian Huguenot families who joined the Dutch in 1624 on the ship Nieu Nederland (“New Netherland”) to colonize New Amsterdam, in what is now called the island of Manhattan.&nbsp;

The four excavated segments were uncovered in December 2005, when the Museum of the City of New York‘s archaeological team started excavating for the South Ferry Terminal Project. Possibly the oldest man-made structure still in place in Manhattan, the Battery Wall was built as a fortification on the Southwestern tip of Manhattan around the 1740s and 1750s. Not only was it a defense against enemies, it also provided a barrier against the rough waves and relentless wind that slammed into New York Harbor. In the late 18th century, the wall became buried under landfill, and was subsequently lost when colonial fortifications were demolished and Battery Park was built in the early 19th century.

Battery Wall

In 1626, Dutch settlers under the command of Peter Minuit made the infamous purchase of the island from the Munsee. They later built a fortification on the southern tip, finally torn down in 1790 after the American Revolution.

north side of Pearl Street, between Whitehall and Broad streets.

First location

The site is now occupied by the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House

Original Graveyard

Broad Street got its name because the Dutch had carved a canal down the middle, with roads on both sides. Later, the whole thing was paved over, and it became one of the widest streets in Lower Manhattan.

It got its name because the Dutch had carved a canal down the middle, with roads on both sides. Later, the whole thing was paved over, and it became one of the widest streets in Lower Manhattan. At Beaver Street and South William Street in the Dutch period there stood a building that was for a time the home of the enslaved Africans owned by the West India Company. Throughout most of the Dutch period, slavery was a haphazard business in New Netherland, with Africans reaching Manhattan as “cargo” on Spanish or Portuguese ships that had been captured in the Caribbean. Those who arrived were pressed into the service of the West India Company, or W.I.C., which ran the colony.

Mill Street Synagogue

The northeast corner of the city. The wall was built when the new city government took measures to defend the place against an expected attack from the English. It was also the site of Dutch financial innovation

The northeast corner of the city. The wall — actually more of a fence made of planks — was built in the wake of the municipal charter, when the new city government took measures to defend the place against an expected attack from the English.&nbsp;

The original east shoreline was Pearl Street. The section on either side of Whitehall Street contained the first Dutch houses, erected in the 1620s: On the west side of the street, a row of them overlooked the East River and what would later become the village of Breuckelen.At the corner of Pearl Street and Coenties Slip, an outline in gray stones on the wide sidewalk marked the foundation of a building that started life as the Stadts Herberg, or city tavern. Ships arriving from Europe would anchor in the East River; then passengers were rowed to a nearby dock, making this the most popular spot in town.

The original shoreline, which on the east was Pearl Street. The section on either side of Whitehall Street contained the first Dutch houses, erected in the 1620s: On the west side of the street, a row of them overlooked the East River and the wilds of what would later become the village of Breuckelen. In one of these lived Catalina Trico and her husband, Joris Rapalje, a couple of nobodies from present-day Belgium who showed up in Amsterdam as immigrants seeking work, heard of this new venture, got married, jumped on one of the first ships and made their lives here. They would have 11 children, 10 of whom lived to marry and have children of their own. Their descendants today number in the millions. I think of them as the Adam and Eve of New Amsterdam.

Sarah Oort's House

At the corner of Pearl Street and Coenties Slip, an outline in gray stones on the wide sidewalk marks the foundation of a building that started life as the Stadts Herberg, or city tavern. Ships arriving from Europe would anchor in the East River; then passengers were rowed to a nearby dock. Apparently the first thing everyone wanted to do after 10 or 12 weeks at sea was have a drink, so this was the most popular spot in town.

Lovelace Tavern : Stadt Huys Block

The first pier in the area appeared in 1625, when the Dutch West India Company founded an outpost here. It developed as one of the first and busiest streets in the area, gaining popularity among traders. The East River was eventually narrowed. By the second half of the 17th century, the pier was extended to Water Street, then to Front Street, and by the beginning of the 19th century, to South Street.

The corner of Pearl Street and Coenties Slip, where, outlined on the pavement, is the foundation of what was New York’s first City Hall. It stood to reason, then, that when the city won a municipal charter in 1653, the Stadts Herberg building would be converted into Manhattan’s first City Hall.&nbsp;

The southernmost section of Broadway follows the route of the Wickquasgeck Trail, named by the Munsee.

The Dutch adopted it as their main thoroughfare up the island. It was a busy road, plied by Europeans, Africans and Native Americans, as well as by horses and wagons. the often cited figure of 18 languages spoken in New Amsterdam almost certainly didn’t include African or Native American languages, and that, when these were added, the figure would probably have been 25 or more.

The Municipal Archives preserves and makes available New York City government's historical records. Their collections date from 1645 to the present.

Surrogate's Court

Surrogate's Courthouse

slavery &nbsp;became a hardened institution in the English period. We still associate slavery with the South, yet by 1730, 42 percent of New Yorkers owned another human being, a higher proportion than in any city in the colonies except Charleston, S.C. The city began to segregate burials in 1697. About 15,000 people were buried at this site designated for interring those of African heritage. It occupied five city blocks.&nbsp;

&nbsp;If the beginnings of slavery in New York were haphazard, it quickly became a hardened institution in the English period. And it grew. I’m continually amazed at our ability to will away the past. We still associate slavery with the South, yet by 1730, 42 percent of New Yorkers owned another human being, a higher proportion than in any city in the colonies except Charleston, S.C. The city began to segregate burials in 1697. About 15,000 people were buried at this site designated for interring those of African heritage. It occupied five city blocks.&nbsp;

African Burial Ground National Monument

At Leonard and Centre Streets Once, a five-acre lake dominated this section of what is now Chinatown. It was spring-fed, deep and cold. A Munsee village sat on the southern shore. This was Manahatta in its primordial state.

New Amsterdam : New York 400 Years

Tour Stops

HISTORIC MAPS