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Objective

This project provides an overview of the early settlements in New Netherland and of the early development of townships and counties. This offers a geographical perspective of 'Dutch' immigration through New Amsterdam between 1609-1674.

Here an excellent link to MAPS that show the outlay of New Netherland and later New York state throughout history.

Work in Progress. For any additions, please contact project collaborators, as the data are being maintained in an Excel file for easy editing.

New Netherland Geography

Settlements

• Nieuw Amsterdam (now the Battery, Manhattan)
• Nieuw Haarlem (now Harlem, Manhattan)
• Noortwijck (also Greenwijck, now Greenwich Village, Manhattan)
• Stuyvesant's Bouerij (now The Bowery, Manhattan)
• Beverwijck (now Albany, NY)
• Wiltwijck (now Kingston, NY)
• Vlissingen (now Flushing, Queens)
• Middelburgh (now Elmhurst, Queens)
• Heemstede (now, Hempstead, Queens)
• Rustdorp (now Jamaica, Queens)
• Gravesende (now Gravesend, Brooklyn)
• Breuckelen (now Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn)
• Nieuw Amersfoort (now Flatlands, Brooklyn)
• Midwout (now Flatbush, Brooklyn)
• Nieuw Utrecht (now Bensonhurst, Brooklyn)
• Boswijck (now Bushwick, Brooklyn)
• Nieuw Amstel (now New Castle, Delaware)
• Altena (now Wilmington, Delaware)

'Patroonships'

• Rensselaerswijck (now the Capital District, NY)
• Colen Donck (now Yonkers, NY)
• Swaanendael (now Lewes, Delaware)
• Broncks (now Bronx, NY)
• Staaten Eylandt (now Staten Island, NY)
• Pavonia (now Hudson County, NJ)
• Achter Col (now Bergen Hill, NJ)
• Vriessendael (now Edgewater, NJ)

Town Development between 1609-1674

Albany

• Before English occupation in 1664, Albany was called Beverwyck.
• In the 1640s, town development began North of Fort Orange, on the right bank of the Hudson River. Houses were simple wooden structures.
• In 1652, Beverwyck was incorporated as a city.
• In the early 1660, brick houses started to replace the wooden ones, and a wooden stockade was erected around the settlement, with six access gates.
• In 1697, about 180 buildings were recorded in Albany. For a list of the families at that time, please click here (census data from sheriff Simeon Young).

New York

• Before 1625, the earliest families settled on Noten Eylandt (now called Governors Island).
• In 1625, construction of a fortified citadel called Fort Amsterdam started under Willem Verhulst, and the families were moved there from Noten Eylandt.
• Around 1630, the settlement counted about 270 people, including infants
• In 1653, New Amsterdam was formally incorporated as a city.
• In 1660, the city counted about 300 homes. For a list of the home owners, derived from the census by Nicasius de Sille, please click here. For an interactive map of the city at that time, please click here.
• During English occupation (1664-1672), the city was renamed New York.
• After Dutch recapture (1673-1674) the city was briefly called New Orange.
• In 1674, the province became formally English (Anglo-Dutch Treaty of Westminster) and the city was called New York from then on.