Beeren Island (''Beeren Eylandt'' in the original
Dutch), also known as Barren Island or Bear Island,
is an island in the
Hudson River within the
town of
Coeymans,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. It lies south of the
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
of
Albany,
and is at the border of four
counties,
Albany,
Greene (to the south),
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
(to the southeast), and
Rensselaer (to the east).
Beeren Island was once referred to as ''Mach-a-wa-meck'', which may come from ''mashq'' (bear) and ''wamock'' (enough), meaning "place of many bears" and would make it in agreement with the Dutch name.
History
The island was claimed by the
Patroon Kiliaen van Rensselaer as the southern border of his
patroonship
In the United States, a patroon (; from Dutch ''patroon'' ) was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland on the east coast of North America. Through the Charter of Freedoms a ...
of
Rensselaerswijck
The Manor of Rensselaerswyck, Manor Rensselaerswyck, Van Rensselaer Manor, or just simply Rensselaerswyck ( nl, Rensselaerswijck ), was the name of a colonial estate—specifically, a Dutch patroonship and later an English manor—owned by the va ...
, it was from the start of the
New Netherland colony chosen as a fine site for fortifications to protect the patroon's lands. In 1643 a fort named Rensselaersstein was built and garrisoned, and included mounted cannon; Nicolaes Coorn was appointed watchmaster. Every ship passing the island had to lower its flag in deference to the patroon and pay five
stiver
The stuiver was a coin used in the Netherlands, worth Dutch Guilders ( 16 ''penning'' or 8 ''duit'', later 5 cents). It was also minted on the Lower Rhine region and the Dutch colonies. The word can still refer to the 5 euro cent coin, which ...
s.
[ A dispute arose between Coorn and the captain of the ship ''Good Hope'' when Coorn demanded that Captain Govert Loockermans lower his flag, and Loockermans replied that "I lower my colors for no one except the Prince of Orange and the Lords my masters." At which point Coorn shot a cannonball through the mainsail of the ''Good Hope''.][ The island was the location of the first white child born along the Hudson River.][
The island has at various times also been occupied by a few Native American hunters, by the Coeymans family, a quarantine station, and was even the site of fortune hunters looking for Captain Kidd's hidden treasure.][
]
References
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Islands of Albany County, New York
Islands of the Hudson River
New Netherland
River islands of New York (state)
Islands of New York (state)