New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Stephen T. McErleane

Janny Venema On New Netherland Praatjes Podcast

by Leave a Comment

new netherlands praatjesIn this episode of the New Netherland Praatjes Podcast Janny Venema chats with Russell Shorto about her more than thirty years of experience working with the documents of New Netherland.

Venema also discusses her life growing up in the Netherlands, her discovery of the early Dutch history of New York, and her books on early Albany and Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the founder of the patroonship of Rensselaerswijck.

To listen to the podcast, click here. [Read more…] about Janny Venema On New Netherland Praatjes Podcast

New Netherland Podcast Features Archaeologist Paul Huey

by Leave a Comment

new netherlands praatjesIn this episode of the New Netherland Praatjes podcast, archaeologist Paul Huey, who has more than four decades of experience excavating sites across New York State, chats with Russell Shorto about Huey’s long and rewarding career.

Huey explains the process behind archaeological excavations and the evolution of the excavation process over the years. Some of the archaeological digs he details are Schuyler Flatts, the Van Curler house, and Fort Orange. [Read more…] about New Netherland Podcast Features Archaeologist Paul Huey

Debunking The ‘French Fort’ On Albany’s Castle Island

by 9 Comments

the 1614 Block mapThe 400th anniversary of Albany’s first documented European settlement gives us an opportunity to clear up some inaccuracies surrounding its history. In particular, it is time to roundly debunk the stubborn myth that the French built the first European structure in Albany.

Several Wikipedia pages—”Albany“, “Castle Island,” “Fort Nassau“—claim that Albany’s first European structure was a fort on Castle Island built by French traders in 1540. The “Castle Island” page calls it a chateau and claims that the Dutch rebuilt the French fort, “which they called a castle[,] giving rise to the name of the island.” This is silly. There is no credible evidence of a French fort on Castle Island or anywhere in the region, and any account of a structure resembling a chateau is particularly absurd. So where did this myth come from? [Read more…] about Debunking The ‘French Fort’ On Albany’s Castle Island