The Stadt Huys (an old
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
spelling
Spelling is a set of conventions that regulate the way of using graphemes (writing system) to represent a language in its written form. In other words, spelling is the rendering of speech sound (phoneme) into writing (grapheme). Spelling is one ...
, meaning
city hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
) was the first city hall in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, United States. It was built in 1642 by the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
, when the settlement was named
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
. The building was used until 1679, when the structure was no longer deemed safe for occupants. The structure was located at present 71
Pearl Street (now demolished) in the modern-day
Financial District
A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
of
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
.
The Stadt Huys block archaeology project was the first large–scale archaeological excavation in New York City in 1979-1980. At the time it was excavated, it was one of the most expensive and most productive projects of urban archeology undertaken in an American city. Many logistical procedures for
urban archaeology
Urban archaeology is a sub discipline of archaeology specializing in the material past of towns and cities where long-term human habitation has often left a rich record of the past. In modern times, when someone talks about living in a city, they ...
had to be developed as the project evolved. Most of these procedures have become a model for performing large-scale excavations in the city.
History
The Stadt Huys site consisted of land on three blocks, defined by
Pearl Street,
Broad Street and
South William Street, and extended to the east across
Coenties Alley when it was Dutch New Amsterdam.
In 1642, the Dutch West India Company built a typical 17th-century Dutch–style building, used as a city tavern (basically a communal meetingplace) named ''Stadt Herbergh''. In 1653 the structure was converted into a
city hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
. As one of the largest public buildings in the city, the Stadt Huys became the center of governmental and political life in the colony of
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
and continued functioning as such after the
British conquered New Amsterdam in 1664. The Stadt Huys stopped functioning as the city hall in 1679 when its structure was deemed unsafe. It stood for another 20 years in its unrepaired condition and was razed in 1699.
The King's House (also known as the Lovelace Tavern) was a bar built in 1670 by New York's second English governor,
Francis Lovelace
Francis Lovelace (c. 1621–1675) was an English Royalist and the second Governor of New York colony.
Early life
Lovelace was born circa 1621. He was the third son of Sir William Lovelace (1584–1627) and his wife Anne Barne of Lovelace Plac ...
(c. 1621–1675). The King's House was next door to the Stadt Huys and operated until 1706. The building's remains were discovered in 1979, during construction of present-day 85
Broad Street. The King's House served as the city hall temporarily from 1697 to 1703, when the new city hall opened at the corner of Wall and Nassau Streets (now the site of
Federal Hall
Federal Hall is a historic building at 26 Wall Street in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. The current Greek Revival–style building, completed in 1842 as the Custom House, is operated by the National Park Service as a nati ...
).
Excavations
A four-story structure was built at 71 Pearl Street in 1826, on part of the Stadt Huys Site;
[ the ]New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
(LPC) designated it as a city landmark in 1965. However, it was destroyed in 1968 to make way for an office tower, plans for which ultimately stalled. When 71 Pearl was being demolished, LPC researchers discovered some foundation walls from Stadt Huys.[
The Stadt Huys Block was one of the few blocks remaining in New York City where the remains of the Dutch occupation in New York might still exist, as it was one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in the city and a residence for many prominent residents of that era.] The Stadt Huys Block was the first archaeological project performed under the auspices of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
and the City Environmental Quality Review
City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) is a process New York City agencies must undergo to determine if any discretionary action they approved has any deteriorating impact on the environment. Projects that have to be reviewed by CEQR are either ...
process.
Dollar Savings Bank
Dollar Savings Bank of New York was a bank that operated in New York City between 1890 and 2004.
History
Dollar Savings Bank of New York was formed on June 23, 1890.
In February 1983, after it was on the verge of bank failure, the Federal Dep ...
, which purchased the property in 1979, provided between $100,000 and $150,000 for the initial archeological investigation. Con Edison
Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison (stylized as conEdison) or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 b ...
and Durst Foundation joined also contributed as the project continued.
Timeline
* 1979 – The project started with the planning of 85 Broad Street
85 may refer to:
* 85 (number)
* one of the years 85 BC, AD 85, 1885, 1985, 2085
See also
*
* M85 (disambiguation), including "Model 85"
* 1985 (disambiguation) 1985 was a year.
1985 may also refer to:
Literature
* ''1985'' (Burgess novel) ...
(now the Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
headquarters). An archeological survey was required because the foundations would destroy any artifacts below the surface.
* August 1979 – A certificate of Appropriateness for the archaeological excavation was granted. Phase one, a sensitivity study consisting of documentary research and preliminary subsurfacing boring, commenced.
* October 1, 1979 – The second phase commenced, with removal of the parking lot and construction demolition debris. The full contractor force was onsite from October 9 through the end of the year. Field and laboratory work had commenced as soon as the project started.
* December 1979 – Dollar Savings Bank planned to transfer the land to Galbreath - Ruffin.
* January 1980 – mitigation phase until mid-July 1980 for more time, money and a period to excavate Coenties Alley and Stone Street.
* July–August 1980 – Construction activities on Coenties Alley and Stone Street. Fieldwork ended on August 29.
* March 1981 – Laboratory work ended.
* December 1987 – The project was submitted to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Participants
* Directors
** Nan Rothschild, a professor of anthropology at Hunter College
Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...
and New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
** Diana Rockman, a doctoral candidate
** Eugene Boesch
* Contributors – Diane Dallal, Joseph Diamond, Mary Dieryckx, Meta F. Janowitz, Josselyn F. Moore, Kate Morgan Arnold Pickman, and Nancy Stehling
Findings
The archaeologists found more than four tons of artifacts in the site: bricks, stones, glass, turkey bones, watermelon seeds, coffee beans, oyster shells, buttons, coins, and pottery, including a bright yellow cooking pot (believed to be a pitcher when excavated), vivid blue and white delftware
Delftware or Delft pottery, also known as Delft Blue ( nl, Delfts blauw) or as delf,
is a general term now used for Dutch tin-glazed earthenware, a form of faience. Most of it is blue and white pottery, and the city of Delft in the Netherland ...
plates, tiles and apothecary jars.
In the Lovelace Tavern were numerous 17th-century clay tobacco pipes (broken fragments), wine-bottle fragments; a storage barrel brimming with empty wine and rum bottles, and one perfect unbroken clay pipe in the cellar.
Aftermath
The large number of artifacts uncovered led to increased awareness of archeology in New York City. The LPC hired its first archeologist in 1980 as a result of the dig.
85 Broad Street was finished before the excavation report was completed. The developers, however, left some evidence of the site, displaying remains of King's Tavern and a well from 18th century. Around the building, there is a public plaza with information about the Stadt Huys, the Tavern and the archaeology project. The brass circular plaque on the sidewalk of the plaza has a map of the original street plan of New Amsterdam and there are colored outlines for the Stadt Huys and the King's House as the reminder of where it was.
At the previous 71 Pearl Street is a "Portal Down to Old New York". The concrete sidewalk encloses transparent panels through which the original foundation walls of the Lovelace Tavern can be seen.
References
{{Financial District, Manhattan
Archaeology of the United States
Buildings and structures demolished in 1969
City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan
Financial District, Manhattan
History of New York City