More On Vandewater Street And Its Name Origins

Vandewater Street ran from Frankfort to Pearl Streets one block east of Rose Street. It was closed about 1970 for Murry Bergtraum High School and the adjoining Verizon building.

SOURCE NOTES:
PIONEERS - NY TO CANADA
Jacobus Vandewater and Rachel Van Kleek are most likely the pioneer settler family that moved from Poughkeepsie to Hay Bay around 1795 as referred to in the Pioneer Life on the Bay of Quinte.
VANDEWATER FAMILY: (as in the PLBQ)
"The many descendants of the Vandewater family to be found in Prince Edward County, Hastings and Lennox counties are of Dutch descent. The family came from Holland and settled in New York when that place first became a British possession. They removed to Boston, where they carried on a large printing business, some of the members being known as the "King's Printers." They must have been persons of considerable standing, for Vandewater street in New York City was named after the family; and for services rendered to the British Government, James Vandewater, who was afterwards the Canadian pioneer, received a grant of land on Chesepeake Bay, in the State of Maryland, to which State he removed prior to the War of Independence. When the colonies pronounced their allegiance to the crown, James threw in his lot with the revolutionists and served under George Washington. He sent his family to Poughkeepsie as he found his home unsafe for them owing to the proximity of the coast and of the indians, who were in sympathy with the British. As he did not return to Maryland until peace was declared, it is to be assumed that he remained with the army till the conclusion of war. But on his return home he found his land taken up by squatters, whom he was unable to dispossess owing to the unsettled state of the country and the law. It is narrated how that, in a fit of anger at finding his property in such a plight, he burned his deeds to the land and left the country, because he thought there was no justice to be obtained in it.
James Vandewater made his way from Poughkeepsie to Oswego, thence to Hay Bay, where he settled about 1795. He died in 1833 (sic - probably 1823); the homestead at this place being still in the possession of one of his descendants. His sons, John and Peter, made their way up the Bay as far as Sidney, where John bought lot 30, 2nd concession, and Peter, lots 29 and 30 in the 6th concession of Sidney."
Source: Pioneer Life on the Bay of Quinte (PLBQ), 1904, pp. 841/2.

The Dutch In New York

from channel 13's great site on the 400th anniversary of the Dutch arriving in New York The entire show is viewable. The bare LES area of the forest of Manhattan in 1609 is where KV is now.

As we celebrate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage to America, historian Barry Lewis takes us back in time to rediscover the first European settlers in New York — the Dutch.

The Fly Market

This would be where Maiden Lane met the East River. About the fly market, from new amsterdam public

In 1699, the so-called Fly Market (a corruption of the Dutch vly or valley) opened at the foot of Maiden Lane. Decade by decade, as the town grew north, its markets moved along the river towards Peck Slip again, where it had all begun.

Knickerbocker Village 1695

This map is oriented with the south being on the right. The East River is on the top and Knickerbocker would be eventually further left of the top left of this map.

Knickerbocker Village 1664

From The Historical Atlas of New York City by Eric Homberger.
Knickerbocker would be just beyond the upper right of this map

Dutch New York: School Projects 2

From a 2005 post from pseudo-intellectualism
Here's a great New Amsterdam project done in HyperStudio and then converted to Quicktime and combined with a colonial midi file. It's done by Noelle's class at the Children's Workshop School from 2001-2 and it's great. Noelle O'Reilly is a gem and it's worth the price of admission to hear her Bono impersonation.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5581/1279/1600/spier.jpg

Dutch New York: School Projects 1

From a 2005 post from pseudo-intellectualism
This wonderful book is out of print. Here's my narrated version from the early slide show era. It's 6MB, a longer than usual download.

Uncovering A Small Town On Governor's Island

Governor's Island
I missed many of the events associated with the NY 400 anniversary, but I hope to check out this rediscovered history of Governor's Island
Several ny times stories about the 400th anniversary
A new exhibits at the South Street Seaport Museum and the Museum of the City of New York posted on September 10th

Events at Bowling Green from September 14th

An arts event at Governor's Island

The Milkmaid at the Metropolitan Museum
About the images from the pdf document above
an excerpt from the associated story

Uncovering a Small Town (and Some Tall Tales)
By RANDY KENNEDY
Touring an archaeological dig site, you generally expect a glimpse of antiquities a little more antediluvian than a television antenna, a seven-inch single, a tailfin and a rotary-dial telephone. But an odd excavation site that recently opened to the public on Governors Island purports to offer just that: artifacts not of the Mesoamerican but of the midcentury variety, about 1954.
That is the year, at least according to Geert Hautekiet, the man in charge of exhibiting the site, that the United States Army, which then controlled the island, ordered a small, obscure civilian community there to be evacuated during the approach of a dangerous electrical storm. All of the buildings and houses in the town, Mr. Hautekiet said, were then inexplicably buried under sand by the military, which later appeared to deny that the village had ever existed.
The town, known as Goverthing — which strangely has never appeared on any New York City historical maps or been noted by a single historian — is said to have been stumbled upon during recent demolition work on the island, which New York City and New York State have jointly controlled since 2003, seeking to develop it as a recreational, historic and artistic destination.
It was then, the story goes, that a team of Belgian archaeologists was summoned to uncover pieces of the unlikely — indeed, almost unbelievable — community that, before it was evacuated, numbered only 29 residents, many of Belgian and French descent, whose livelihood centered on a small factory in town that capitalized on a once-thriving international market for snow globes.

Recreating Hudson's North River Journey Of 1609

video associated with an article by COREY KILGANNON in the nytimes
an excerpt

I NEVER thought much about the Hudson River. It was merely that watery western terminus of Manhattan streets; a place where bodies sometimes floated up and jetliners crashed safely; that thing you had to cross to get to New Jersey.
But one recent Saturday, something happened to make me rethink the river: I tasted it.
A rogue ferry wake slapped off the side of my kayak, sending salty splash in my face. There was no gagging nor immediate sign of hepatitis, so I kept paddling, marveling at the swimmers and Jet Skiers frolicking on the clean, choppy water.
The incoming tide rushed me north. That and my briny mouthful reminded me that I was not on some afterthought of a river, but a majestic arm of the Atlantic Ocean, an epic salt-water estuary whose discovery by Henry Hudson in 1609 opened up the entire region — what we now call the metropolitan area — to settlement and commerce.
To mark this year’s 400th anniversary of Hudson’s historic exploration, the fall calendar is filled with a flotilla of festivals and food fairs, exhibitions and expositions, panel discussions and plays, tours, readings and concerts. I probably won’t make it to any of them.
Instead, I decided to retrace his route, starting in a borrowed kayak and then hitching rides along the way, endeavoring a modern-day exploration of the characters who live, work and play along the river where Hudson encountered only wind, fog, rain and the occasional Indian trader bearing tobacco. He sailed 340 miles round trip aboard the 100-foot Half Moon over 24 days in September and October; mine was a serendipitous 60-hour journey — from Times Square to the Federal Dam in Troy — in a taxi, the kayak, a 50-foot yacht named the Jackpot, a fishing boat, a jet boat, a rescue craft, a Half Moon replica and a 19-year-old Lincoln Town Car.

Dutch New York At The Hudson River Museum

Dutch NY Exhibition
from the museum site

The Hudson River Museum: Dutch History Of New York

currently they have a great exhibition on Dutch NY History from hudson river museums

The Hudson River Museum offers a continuous and changing schedule of lectures, seminars, workshops and exhibits. The Museum Cafe offers reasonably priced meals and a spectacular view of the Hudson River and the Palisades, while the Museum Shop and Craft Gallery offer beautiful and unusual objects and designs for all ages and pocketbooks. Trevor Mansion, a 19th century estate built in 1876 sits adjacent to the museum. A prime example of Victorian style, the mansion boasts restored interiors that showcase an important collection of American and European fine and decorative art. Andrus Planetarium, located inside the museum, is the only public planetarium in Westchester County. Come and explore the vast reaches of outer space as you've never seen them before. 511 Warburton Ave. in Yonkers, N.Y. (914) 963-4550. Their web site

dutch era music source