Financial District in Manhattan in New York County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Beaver’s Path
Birth of a City: Nieuw Amsterdam & Old New York
BEAVER’S PATH
Location: Battery Place at Greenwich Street
Dutch Name: Bever Straet
Here, on a sandyshore, Lenape Indians beached their canoes to trade beaver and otter pelts for Dutch cloth, kettles, and metal tools. To the Lenape, this was Manahatt, a word perhaps meaning “island of many hills.” Native peoples had lived in the region for some ten thousand years. Here they camped, hunted, fished, and farmed. Their footpaths crisscrossed the island, and some became Dutch roads and streets.
Following Hudson’s voyage, the Dutch West India Company placed settlers here in 1625-26 to exploit the region’s bounty of furs. Skins trapped by the Lenape and Iroquois were shipped to Europe for the market in expensive fur hats and garments.
Despite trade, Europeans and Indians fought a series of bloody wars between 1640 and 1663, and the Lenape lost control of their land. But the natives influenced the Europeans. Colonists used Indian sewant (carved seashell bits) as money, adopted their fod sappaen (cornmeal porridge), and used Indian place names. Today, from Canarsie and Gowanus to Rockaway and Maspeth, the words of the Lenape people, recorded by Dutch settlers, still mark the cityscape.
Erected 2009 by City Lore & NY 400 .
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Colonial Era • Native Americans • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1640.
Location. Marker has been reported permanently removed. It was located near 40° 42.286′ N, 74° 0.859′ W. Marker was in Manhattan, New York, in New York County. It was in the Financial District. Marker was at the intersection of Battery Place and State Street, on the right when traveling east on Battery Place. Touch for map. Marker was in this post office area: New York NY 10004, United States of America.
We have been informed that this sign or monument is no longer there and will not be replaced. This page is an archival view of what was.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location. Fort Amsterdam (a few steps from this marker); October 28, 1886 (a few steps from this marker); Broadway - The Canyon of Heroes (a few steps from this marker); May 9, 1917 (a few steps from this marker); Historic Battery Park & Castle Clinton (within shouting distance of this marker); Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House / National Museum of the American Indian (within shouting distance of this marker); October 3, 1919 (within shouting distance of this marker); October 19, 1921 (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Manhattan.
More about this marker. A picture of a Dutch settler and a Lenape Indian appear at the top of the marker. They have captions of “Dutch settlers may have resembled this musketeer when they fought Lenape Indians in the region surrounding Nieuw Amsterdam.” and “This Indian, drawn in Europe in 1645, may have been a Lenape prisoner of war brought back by Dutch soldiers and displayed as a ‘curosity’ to paying spectators at fairs.” The lower left of the marker contains a map showing the route of the Nieuw Amsterdam Trail in lower Manhattan.
NOTE:As of December 2018, all the markers in this series had been removed.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Learn about New York City’s colonial Dutch heritage by taking a virtual tour of the Nieuw Amsterdam Trail though lower Manhattan.
Also see . . . City Lore website. City Lore's mission is to foster New York's - and America's - living cultural heritage. (Submitted on November 5, 2009, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.)
Credits. This page was last revised on January 31, 2023. It was originally submitted on November 5, 2009, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 1,242 times since then and 21 times this year. Last updated on December 11, 2018, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on November 5, 2009, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. 5. submitted on December 11, 2018, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.