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September 26, 2024 7:44 AM Subscribe
“Broadway intersects 59th Street and Central Park West. This was formally called Grand Circle and also just The Circle. [ ] Broadway has actually been a thoroughfare in New York City long before Central Park existed. In fact, it goes back to before the city was called New York, and even before it was called New Amsterdam. The native Lenape people living on this island
traveled this very same route for generations making this one of the busiest paths on the island for around 13,000 years. When early Dutch colonizers learned about it,
they called it the Wecquaesgeek Trail [harlem + bespoke] in reference to the tribe of Wappinger people who lived on the bank of the Hudson River.” [AD]
part of Architectural Digest’s walking tour series with Nicholas Potts
part of Architectural Digest’s walking tour series with Nicholas Potts
I love love love learning the origins of place names, the paths that led to modern roads, and who built things "before." One of the sources of this was learning that Wall Street was where the Dutch built the wall around their New Amsterdam settlement. Oh, there was an actual wall there? Gee, that makes so much sense.
Thanks for the cool post.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:18 AM on September 26 [3 favorites]
Thanks for the cool post.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:18 AM on September 26 [3 favorites]
I appreciate knowing that the circle had other names before the current one. I also love that this has a transcript!
posted by limeonaire at 9:29 AM on September 26 [2 favorites]
posted by limeonaire at 9:29 AM on September 26 [2 favorites]
There was a seedy gay bathhouse overlooking Columbus Circle up until the mid 80s.
.Saw quite a few famous people there.
posted by Czjewel at 9:39 AM on September 26 [4 favorites]
.Saw quite a few famous people there.
posted by Czjewel at 9:39 AM on September 26 [4 favorites]
Oh, for some of those good old-fashioned off-Wecquaesgeek Trail musicals.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:10 AM on September 26 [5 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:10 AM on September 26 [5 favorites]
An interesting article with my morning coffee! Amazing that the original vision for the gates finally came to fruition. I did a little reading on the names of the gates and found these links, and pics of different gates here.
The latest gate was added as recently as 2022:
The most recent addition stands as a significant milestone: The Gate of the Exonerated, dedicated on December 19, 2022. It commemorates the experience of the Exonerated Five and pays tribute to all individuals wrongly convicted of crimes. Remarkably, this gate marks the first and only inclusion to Central Park's official entrance names since the 19th century.
posted by BlueHorse at 10:19 AM on September 26 [3 favorites]
The latest gate was added as recently as 2022:
The most recent addition stands as a significant milestone: The Gate of the Exonerated, dedicated on December 19, 2022. It commemorates the experience of the Exonerated Five and pays tribute to all individuals wrongly convicted of crimes. Remarkably, this gate marks the first and only inclusion to Central Park's official entrance names since the 19th century.
posted by BlueHorse at 10:19 AM on September 26 [3 favorites]
…and even before it was called New Amsterdam.
Old New York was once New Amsterdam?
posted by TedW at 11:11 AM on September 26 [11 favorites]
Old New York was once New Amsterdam?
posted by TedW at 11:11 AM on September 26 [11 favorites]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Amsterdam
[snip]
New Amsterdam (Dutch: Nieuw Amsterdam, pronounced [ˌniu.ɑmstərˈdɑm]) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading factory gave rise to the settlement around Fort Amsterdam. The fort was situated on the strategic southern tip of the island of Manhattan and was meant to defend the fur trade operations of the Dutch West India Company in the North River (Hudson River). In 1624, it became a provincial extension of the Dutch Republic and was designated as the capital of the province in 1625. New Amsterdam became a city when it received municipal rights on February 2, 1653.[3]
posted by aleph at 11:19 AM on September 26 [1 favorite]
[snip]
New Amsterdam (Dutch: Nieuw Amsterdam, pronounced [ˌniu.ɑmstərˈdɑm]) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading factory gave rise to the settlement around Fort Amsterdam. The fort was situated on the strategic southern tip of the island of Manhattan and was meant to defend the fur trade operations of the Dutch West India Company in the North River (Hudson River). In 1624, it became a provincial extension of the Dutch Republic and was designated as the capital of the province in 1625. New Amsterdam became a city when it received municipal rights on February 2, 1653.[3]
posted by aleph at 11:19 AM on September 26 [1 favorite]
Why'd they change it?
posted by stet at 11:30 AM on September 26 [9 favorites]
posted by stet at 11:30 AM on September 26 [9 favorites]
The English took it from the Dutch.
posted by aleph at 11:33 AM on September 26 [1 favorite]
posted by aleph at 11:33 AM on September 26 [1 favorite]
from the page:
[snip]
In 1664, the English took over New Amsterdam and renamed it New York after the Duke of York (later James II & VII).[5] After the Second Anglo-Dutch War of 1665–67, England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands agreed to the status quo in the Treaty of Breda. The English kept the island of Manhattan, the Dutch giving up their claim to the town and the rest of the colony, while the English formally abandoned Surinam in South America, and the island of Run in the East Indies to the Dutch, confirming their control of the valuable Spice Islands. The area occupied by New Amsterdam is now Lower Manhattan.
posted by aleph at 11:34 AM on September 26 [1 favorite]
[snip]
In 1664, the English took over New Amsterdam and renamed it New York after the Duke of York (later James II & VII).[5] After the Second Anglo-Dutch War of 1665–67, England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands agreed to the status quo in the Treaty of Breda. The English kept the island of Manhattan, the Dutch giving up their claim to the town and the rest of the colony, while the English formally abandoned Surinam in South America, and the island of Run in the East Indies to the Dutch, confirming their control of the valuable Spice Islands. The area occupied by New Amsterdam is now Lower Manhattan.
posted by aleph at 11:34 AM on September 26 [1 favorite]
Well, I certainly hope they liked it better that way.
posted by stet at 11:46 AM on September 26 [11 favorites]
posted by stet at 11:46 AM on September 26 [11 favorites]
Can't say or won't say?
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 11:46 AM on September 26 [1 favorite]
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 11:46 AM on September 26 [1 favorite]
Given the recent bribery of Adams by Erdogan, I'm suspecting Turk business.
posted by stet at 11:59 AM on September 26 [8 favorites]
posted by stet at 11:59 AM on September 26 [8 favorites]
I'm am absolutely loving the direction these comments are taking. Now do a post about Istanbul.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:59 AM on September 26 [8 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:59 AM on September 26 [8 favorites]
The Island at the Center of the World is an interesting read . . .
posted by torokunai at 12:59 PM on September 26 [4 favorites]
posted by torokunai at 12:59 PM on September 26 [4 favorites]
It goes all the way to Albany, too (changing names a lot).
posted by Melismata at 1:10 PM on September 26 [2 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 1:10 PM on September 26 [2 favorites]
Love the history!
Why'd they change it?
posted by stet
eponystic
posted by away for regrooving at 1:13 PM on September 26 [2 favorites]
Why'd they change it?
posted by stet
eponystic
posted by away for regrooving at 1:13 PM on September 26 [2 favorites]
Why'd they change it? &c. Once again, MF fails to disappoint.
posted by hexatron at 1:38 PM on September 26 [4 favorites]
posted by hexatron at 1:38 PM on September 26 [4 favorites]
Old New York was once New Amsterdam?
My kids grew up on the music my husband and I liked and when our daughter was tiny she was convinced it was New Hamster Town in the song. So that's how we sing it, now and forever.
posted by cooker girl at 5:51 PM on September 26 [10 favorites]
My kids grew up on the music my husband and I liked and when our daughter was tiny she was convinced it was New Hamster Town in the song. So that's how we sing it, now and forever.
posted by cooker girl at 5:51 PM on September 26 [10 favorites]
The Architectural Digest YouTube channel is fantastic and also a rare example where an old media publication gets modern video correct (even as I could endlessly critique the other stuff Conde Nast produces).
The channel is also wonderful if you want to know all about New York buildings, like I do.
posted by Captaintripps at 6:04 PM on September 26 [3 favorites]
The channel is also wonderful if you want to know all about New York buildings, like I do.
posted by Captaintripps at 6:04 PM on September 26 [3 favorites]
Now do a post about Istanbul.
Not Constantinople?
posted by Zonker at 5:43 AM on September 27 [7 favorites]
Not Constantinople?
posted by Zonker at 5:43 AM on September 27 [7 favorites]
Been a long time gone, I've heard.
posted by cooker girl at 6:45 AM on September 27 [5 favorites]
posted by cooker girl at 6:45 AM on September 27 [5 favorites]
Why did Constantinople get the works, though?
posted by headspace at 8:35 AM on September 27 [5 favorites]
posted by headspace at 8:35 AM on September 27 [5 favorites]
That’s nobody’s business but the Turks
posted by TedW at 8:45 AM on September 27 [5 favorites]
posted by TedW at 8:45 AM on September 27 [5 favorites]
And Eric Adams', it seems.
posted by goo at 11:52 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
posted by goo at 11:52 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
Like with Wall Street, Canal Street runs along the path of a former canal.
posted by madcaptenor at 7:36 PM on September 27
posted by madcaptenor at 7:36 PM on September 27
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posted by robbyrobs at 8:07 AM on September 26 [1 favorite]