New York in the 17th Century
In the early 17th century the Dutch West India Company established a settlement on “Nutten Island” (today’s Governors Island). The Dutch settlement was named New Amsterdam. In 1626, the settlement’s governor bought Manhattan Island from the natives, so the settlement moved to Manhattan. It was then a land covered with green forests, berry patches and babbling brooks. Many species of game and cultivated fields of vegetation served as food for the Lenape people who lived in circular huts with grass-thatched roofs. About 5,000 Lenape lived in 80 settlements around the region.
In 1674, the English took control of the city and renamed it New York. In 1691, Abraham de Peyster became the first mayor of New York City.
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This is part of an illustration published in 1843, depicting New Amsterdam in the 17th century with pictures of individual buildings and scenes in Washington Irving's works (source: New York Public Library).
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T'Fort Nieuw Amsterdam op de Manhatans, engraving by Kryn Fredericks, published 1651.
New York in the 17th Century
