Hudson was chosen by The Dutch East India Company to find an easterly passage to Asia. Though told to sail around the Arctic Ocean north of Russia, Hudson had to abandon this plan as ice blocked his ship. Instead, he and his crew decided to try to seek a southwest passage through North America.
After crossing the Atlantic Ocean in the Halve Maen (Half Moon), Hudson entered Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay on August 28, 1609. He concluded, however, that these waterways would not lead him to the Pacific Ocean. So, Hudson then moved north and entered what is today New York Harbor. He sailed as far north as Albany before he realized that this waterway, too, was not a passage to the Pacific. What he did not know was that a northwest passage to the Pacific did not exist north of the Strait of Magellan.
Along the way, Hudson traded with several native tribes and obtained different shells, beads and furs that he brought back to Europe. His voyage established Dutch claims to the region and the fur trade that soon prospered. New Amsterdam was created on the lower tip of what now is Manhattan and it became the capital of New Netherland during1625.
Historic Names and Locations
The areas north of New Amsterdam became a melting pot of Europeans, with significant influence from the original Dutch settlers. More than 500 languages were spoken along this river by the mid 1800s. Today, many of the towns, villages, geographic landmarks and historic sites still retain their Dutch names.
- The communities of Fishkill, in Dutchess County, and Peekskill were founded by Dutch settlers. “Kill” comes from the Dutch word “kille” that means "riverbed" or "water channel." Both Fishkill and Peekskill began on the shores of small streams.
- The Kill Van Kull is a tidal strait near New York Harbor that separates Staten Island from a part of New Jersey.
- Spuyten Duyvil refers to a section of The Bronx named after Spuyten Duyvil Creek, another Dutch name that has had several different spellings and meanings over the years that include "Spinning Devil" and "Devil's Whirlpool". The waterway in this area during Dutch colonization moved in several different directions simultaneously and often crippled or sank small and large boats.
- The Philipse Manor Hall is located in Yonkers, the fourth largest city in New York State. The Philipse family owned upper and lower manors along the Hudson River. The one in Yonkers was the lower manor and the one in what is now the community of Sleepy Hollow was the upper manor. Both are museums today.
- The original grant of land that now comprises Yonkers was owned by a Dutchman who was known as a “Jonkheer” or “Jonker” (young gentleman). The city’s name is directly derived from this Dutch term.
- The Old Dutch Church in Tarrytown, which is within site of the Philipse upper manor house, was built during the late 1600s. Washington Irving's “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” uses the church and the surrounding Dutch community as the backdrop for his story.
- The Van Cortlandt Manor in the area known as Croton-on-Hudson was the home of a politically influential family that fought for independence from Britain. Another Van Cortlandt family home sits today in Van Cortlandt Park in The Bronx.
Learn more about some of these and other New York sites by visiting the Historic Hudson Valley.
