The New Amsterdam Trail is an interactive history walk illuminating the Dutch presence in the landmarks, architecture, monuments, and street names of lower Manhattan. NY400 walked the tour and discovered a couple of fascinating, hidden spots that most New Yorkers probably are not aware of.
The trail, a co-production of Henry Hudson 400, the National Parks Service, and the New York Harbor Conservancy at Federal Hall, takes you on a journey back in time, through 17th century New Amsterdam. It starts as south as Battery Park and guides you through downtown Manhattan to Wall Street, the northern boundary of the old Dutch settlement.
As NY400 walked the tour it became apparent that it takes quite some imagination to relive the history of New Amsterdam. At each site, a story unfolds on how a place fits into the larger arc of New York City. The Netherlands Monument, the National Museum of the American Indian and the waterfront promenade at the Battery are obvious reminders of the Dutch presence in and influence on New York City, as they all bare a visual connection to the settlement of New Amsterdam that once filled the southern tip of the island. But as we continued the tour into the financial district, it was a challenge to connect to the Dutch history of NYC.
On the corner of Pearl Street and Whitehall, one of the tour’s historical sites, once stood the house of Anthony Jansen van Salee and Griet Reyniers. Shorto tells us about their history, but reveals little on what this spot might have looked like some 350 years ago. The modern financial district skyscrapers obstruct the ability to envision this vanished past.
A few stops later, on the corner of Pearl Street and Coenties Alley, we find a spark of the historical sensation we were hoping to experience. Here used to stand the famous City Tavern of New Amsterdam, where the Dutch settlers came for a pint and a conversation. The footprint of the old tavern is outlined in the pavement with yellow bricks, really giving a sense of what was once here.
The New Amsterdam Trail ends at Federal Hall, the birthplace of New York City as we know it, where George Washington took the first Oath of Office. Even though the trail highlights many ‘echoes of the Dutch presence’, the real Dutch legacy is rather to be found in the spirit of the city, then in its appearance.
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