The Changing Face of Manhattan: From Forested Hills to City Hall Park

Summary

When considering Manhattan’s landscape, one envisions a level and gridded metropolis. This was not the face that Manhattan presented to Henry Hudson in 1609 or even to John McComb Jr. when the construction of his new City Hall began in 1803. Where skyscrapers now form the upper canopy and lesser buildings comprise the urban underbrush, the landscape consisted of teeming forests, marshes, streams, and many hills and gullies. In fact, the island was so hilly, it was named ‘Mannahatta’ or The Land of Many Hills by its Lenape inhabitants. In less than 200 years, the ‘Mannahatta’ of 1803 would little resemble that of 1609. Lower Manhattan became gridded streets and housing, the remaining island was comprised of small villages and farms. By 1811, a plan was put into place to expand the city grid across the island, beginning its evolution into modern Manhattan. What human-wreaked changes would change ‘Mannahatta’ into Manhattan?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• New York’s City Hall Park: A Physical Space for New York City’s Public

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-77,01