1857 Map of the Official Grants of Village Lots from the Dutch West India Company...

Map of the Official Grants of Village Lots from the Dutch West India Company to the Inhabitants of New Amsterdam (now New York) Lying Below the Present Line of Wall Street This is a map of the 17th century Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (present-day New York City) published as part of Valentine's Manual in 1857. The map shows the first official land grants in the area, with street names, plot owners, and landmarks. Included in the map is a sheep’s pasture, a road called the “Common Ditch,” and Fort Amsterdam, labeled “The Fort.”  Fort Amsterdam was the administrative headquarters for the Dutch and later the English rule of the colony of New Netherlands and the Province of New York, from around 1625 until it was torn down after the American Revolution. Government House was constructed on the site of Fort Amsterdam as a potential home for the president of the United States. The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House now sits on the site of Fort Amsterdam, which houses the National Museum o