Dutch history can be elusive. It’s rarely taught in schools, but Dutch history continues its influence around New York, especially in the region along the 159 miles of the river that now bears part of Henry Hudson’s name.
Hudson came upon what would become New Amsterdam in 1609 while looking for a westward passage to acquire Far-East spices.
The Lenape called the waterway Muhheakantuck: the river that flows both ways. There’s no better way to see that twice-daily ocean tidal change in action than from the bridge in Rotary Park at Kingston Point.
The New Netherland’s first American settlement was established near present-day Albany in 1614. Its first name was Fort Nassau, named like Nassau County in New York and Nassau in the Bahamas after the Dutch royal family Orange-Nassau. Ten years later, the fort’s name was changed to Orange, a word normally written “Oranje” in Dutch.
By the 1640s, conflicts broke out between the Dutch and Native nations.
The Dutch first farmed the Esopus Valley in 1652. They settled what is now Kingston about 1654, calling their little group of dwellings and businesses there Wiltwyck.
We in Ulster County are taught that the settlers were ordered to build a wooden stockade around the village a few years later to protect themselves against the Native population. Post holes believed used for Kingston’s original wooden stockade have been found.
The early Dutch built an entire trading economy in and near Albany. Just north of Albany a fur-trading community called Beverwyk, meaning Beaver Place because of its major beaver population, had been selected as the first settlement. Beaver pelts were primarily supplied by the Mohawk and the Mahican.
Beaver skins suited for hat felting were the first major commodity for the new Dutch colony. Utilizing a chemical solution containing mercury, the process wreaked havoc on the nervous system after prolonged exposure. Mercury poisoning caused shaking, stumbling, and difficulty with speech, hence the expression “mad as a hatter.”
Also in 1624, the Mohawk and Mahican nations were at war with each other, as were the Dutch and the Spanish in what was known as the Eighty Years’ War.
Right from the start, New Amsterdam was multicultural. In 1643, French Jesuit priest Isaac Jogues noted 18 languages spoken. According to historian Russel Shorto, that didn’t even include native Lenape or Munsee, Montauk, and African languages.
When lower Manhattan was New Amsterdam, it had two canals. Today’s Beaver Street was Beaver Canal (Bever Gracht). Broad Street was Princengraft (Prince Canal), once again to honor the Dutch prince of Orange. In the 1570s, the color orange was used to create the world’s first tricolor flag using orange, white, and blue. Those are also the colors of Ulster County’s flag today.
In 1664, England seized control of New Netherland.
Many Dutch names and places are today associated with New York State, including such better-known ones as Roosevelt, the Bronx, Harlem and the Catskills.
The name “Coney Island” came from Konijn Eiland, meaning “rabbit island.” There was a large population of wild rabbits, most likely the New England cottontail. Over time, “Konijn” was Anglicized to “Coney,” which is an old English term for rabbit.
Flushing was named after the Dutch city of Vlissingen, which was historically called “Flushing” in English. It’s in the province of Zeeland, the namesake for New Zealand, another early Dutch colony.
A decade before British rule, a wall was built around New Amsterdam. It was a stockade fence about twelve feet tall, made of timber. Today, part of that area defines Wall Street.
President Martin Van Buren was born in 1782, nearly 120 years after the British took over. He had entirely Dutch ancestry and was raised speaking primarily Dutch. He was the only U.S. president whose first language was not English.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt of Hyde Park was intensely proud of his Dutch ancestry, despite having only a small percentage of actual Dutch blood.
Stephen Blauweiss’ new presentation, The Dutch & Their New York Legacy, accompanied by 100 historical images, will be shown on Wednesday, May 13 at 7 p.m.at the Hudson River Maritime Museum om the East Strand in Kingston, and on Friday, May 22 at 7 p.m. at the D&H Canal Museum in High Falls. A $15 donation is suggested (members $10).
Join the family! 
