Windmill

Windmill (HMFXZ)

Location: New York, NY 10038 New York County
Buy New York State flags at Flagstore.com!
Country: United States of America
Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com!

N 40° 42.72', W 74° 0.469'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 577 views
Inscription

Birth of a City: Nieuw Amsterdam & Old New York

INTRODUCTION
In September 1609, Henry Hudson and some 20 seamen sailed their ship, the Halve Maen (Half Moon), into what is today New York harbor. The Dutch East India Company expected Hudson to find a passage to Asia. Instead, his voyage allowed the Dutch to claim a territory they would call Nieuw Nederland - today parts of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut. In 1625-26, the new Dutch West India Company established an outpost here at Manhattan's tip to function as the colony's capital and trading center. They called the town Nieuw Amsterdam. It would become New York City.

Between 1625 and 1664, Nieuw Amsterdam became a thriving community of some 2,000 merchants, craftsmen, shopkeepers, farmers, laborers, slaves, and families. Walloon, Flemish, French, German, Bohemian, British, Scandinavian, and Jewish migrants joined Dutch settlers. The houses, canals, and windmills built here put a Dutch imprint on the land. In 1664, and English fleet conquered the colony in the name of the Duke of York. But Dutch cultural traditions, and the town's early ethnic and religious diversity, continued to shape New York's history and identity.

The Dutch legacy in New York was complex. The Dutch traded with Indians, but also fought them. They imported enslaved Africans to toil for them, but also allowed some to gain freedom and own land. Jewish refugees settled, but Director-General Petrus Stuyvesant granted them rights only after authorities in the Netherlands ordered him to do so. Through conflict and compromise, the Dutch established a community that over time would become one of the world's great cities.

In celebration of Hudson's voyage of discovery 400 years ago, this self guided walking tour will take you to 12 sites in lower Manhattan that were important in the daily life of Dutch Nieuw Amsterdam. The map shows the location of each of these sites, where you will find a sign explaining its history.

< Sidebar: >
WINDMILL
Location:
? City Hall Park
Dutch Name: ? Buyten de Landtpoort (Beyond the Land Gate)

One of the most familiar features of the Dutch landscape that colonists brought with them was the windmill. One such mill, built by carpenters near this spot in 1663-64, replaced an earlier one first erected before 1628 along the Beaver's Path at Manhattan's tip. The windmill here, on the "common lands" outside the city limits, continued to grind flour after the English took Nieuw Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664.

Windmills were highly functional structures, turning wheat and rye grown by Dutch settlers into flour for bread, cakes, and the sweets known as koeckjes - a word that later entered New Yorkers' vocabulary as "cookies." Mills also ground the grain used to brew beer, one of Nieuw Amsterdam's favorite beverages. Mills thus became important in the local economy, as farmers who had settled in the countryside of upper Manhattan and Long Island brought their crops for milling.
Details
HM NumberHMFXZ
Tags
Year Placed2009
Placed ByCity Lore & NY 400
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Sunday, October 26th, 2014 at 7:35pm PDT -07:00
Pictures
Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18T E 583806 N 4507260
Decimal Degrees40.71200000, -74.00781667
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 40° 42.72', W 74° 0.469'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds40° 42' 43.20" N, 74° 0' 28.14" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)646, 212, 917, 845
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 230 Broadway, New York NY 10038, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. Is this marker part of a series?
  2. What historical period does the marker represent?
  3. What historical place does the marker represent?
  4. What type of marker is it?
  5. What class is the marker?
  6. What style is the marker?
  7. Does the marker have a number?
  8. This marker needs at least one picture.
  9. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  10. Is the marker in the median?