In lower Manhattan, hints of New Amsterdam's history, such as walls and a cistern under the sidewalk, remain visible despite the modern cityscape. Historian Russell Shorto emphasizes the importance of these remnants, which reflect the original street patterns and architecture of the Dutch colony. His recent book, 'Taking Manhattan', continues the exploration of this history, emerging from a long-term translation project of historical documents. Shorto's insights encourage a deeper appreciation for the city's evolution from its Dutch roots to contemporary New York.
When they were excavating to put in that skyscraper, the archeologists identified and marked out those little bits. New York plows ahead. But there are those tantalizing remnants.
If you have the Castello Plan, the map of New Amsterdam from 1660, you can make this left and that right and make your way around.
Both books grew from a translation project that's been going on in Albany since the 1970s, translating 12,000 pages of the official corpus of the Dutch colony.
That gives a picture of the colony at its height, just before the English took over. And that made me think: I'm now getting a sense of the place.
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