Fort Amsterdam

Fort Amsterdam (subsequently named Fort James, Fort Willem Hendrick, Fort James (again), Fort William Henry, Fort Anne and Fort George) was a fort on the southern tip of Manhattan that was the administrative headquarters for the Dutch and then English/British rule of New York from 1625 or 1626 until being torn down in 1790 after the American Revolution.

The fort was to change hands eight times in various battles including the Battle of Long Island in the American Revolution, when volleys were exchanged between the fort and British emplacements on Governor's Island.

The construction of the fort marked the official founding date of New York City as recognized by the Seal of New York City. In October 1683 what would become the first session of the New York legislature convened at the fort. Guns at the fort formed the original battery; nearby Battery Park is named for this feature. The fort's site is now occupied by the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, which houses the George Gustav Heye Center, part of the National Museum of the American Indian.

Fort Amsterdam was designed by Cryn Fredericks, chief engineer of the New Netherland colony. Seventeenth-century Dutch forts all followed a similar design. Probably originally intended as a standard star-shaped fort, Fort Amsterdam had four sides with a bastion at each corner to better protect the walls. The fort was built of hard-packed earth or rubble as earthworks would absorb cannon fire without collapsing as stone walls might. Much of the construction was probably done by enslaved Africans held by the Dutch West India Company.

The fort was constructed at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, at the junction of the East and North (now known as the Hudson) rivers. Building commenced in 1625 under the direction of Willem Verhulst, the second director of the New Netherland colony. The elevation of the site was originally somewhat higher than today. The fort stood on a hill that sloped down to Pearl Street and Bowling Green. (The hill was cut down in 1788, when the fort was demolished, and the site graded to about its present level.)

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