A Timeline of Maritime New York
1524 -- 1860
| 1524 | Giovanni da Verrazzano and his crew on La Dauphine come upon New York harbor in their coasting of Atlantic seaboard. First European reports of area. | |
| 1525 | Esteban Gomez, a Portuguese sailing for Spain, enters New York harbor and charts lower Hudson | |
| 1609 | Henry Hudson, an Englishman sailing for the Dutch enters New York Harbor on the Halve Moon; explored the Hudson River up to what becomes Albany | |
| 1613 | Dutch seafarer Adriaen Block sailed iinto New York harbor on Tiger; builds Onrush on Manhattan Island and uses it to transit East River into long Island Sound | |
| 1624 | Dutch colonists arrive in New York Harbor aboard New Netherland captained by Cornelius May | |
| 1616 | Peter Minuit assigned to New Amsterdam as Dutch governor; secures deed to Manhattan from resident Indians | |
| 1626 | First shipments of furs from New Amsterdam to Holland | |
| 1627 | Dutch in New Amsterdam open trade with Plymouth Colony | |
| 1630s | Smuggling becomes commonplace among New Amsterdam mariners | |
| 1634 | Settlement begins on east side of East River, in Brooklyn | |
| 1636 | First Africans dispatched to New Amsterdam; bought as perpetual servants | |
| 1638 | English-born Isaac Allerton moved from Plymouth to New Amsterdam; became leading maritime merchant | |
| 1640 | First ferry between Manhattan and Brooklyn in operation | |
| 1647 | Peter Stuyvesant arrives in New Amsterdam as Governor and Director-General of Dutch West Indies Company | |
| 1647 | First pier on East River constructed at Schreyer's Hook | |
| 1647 | Allerton constructs warehouse near site of South Street Seaport. | |
| 1653 | New Amsterdam receives city charter establishing municipal government | |
| 1654 | A weighhouse built on pier and "master" appointed. | |
| 1664 | New Amsterdam ceded to English after show of maritime force; town name changed to Fort James and then New York | |
| 1673 | Dutch regain temporary control of New York; give it back in 1674 | |
| 1675 | English Governor Edmund Andros assumes political leadership of New York; active promoter of maritime commerce | |
| 1676 | "Great Dock" established at Schreyer's Dock at base of Whitehall Street; City's main dock until 1750 | |
| 1680s | New York a favored port for privateering ventures; some New Yorkers engage in open piracy | |
| 1686 | NYC government initiates landfills along Manhattan shorelines | |
| 1692 | Governor Benjamin Fletcher accommodates pirates in New York | |
| 1695 | William Kidd, a pirate, hired by Governor Bellomont to snuff out piracy in region | |
| 1699 | Kidd apprehended in Boston and sent to England for trial; executed in 1701 | |
| 1700s | Active trading between New York and the West Indies; not limited to English Jamaica and Barbados | |
| 1747 | New Yorkers owned 99 vessels | |
| 1754 | King's College founded; many of the governors and benefactors derived their wealth from maritime trade | |
| 1756-63 | French and Indian War brings boom times to NYC; base of British military operations in North America | |
| 1762 | New Yorkers own 447 vessels | |
| 1764 | British Navy establishes a presence in New York to enforce customs collections and maritime rules of trade | |
| 1765 | New Yorkers protest imposition of Stamp Act; Sons of Liberty play a prominent role in agitation | |
| 1768-69 | New York trade with Great Britain drops sharply as result of non-importation accords among NY merchants | |
| 1771 | City builds first dock on Hudson River side of Manhattan | |
| 1774 | April New Yorkers stage their own tea party on British ship London, carrying taxed tea into Harbor. | |
| 1775 | April -- New York moves into open rebellion against Great Britain; leading New York merchants reluctant to break links with England; many remain loyal to crown. | |
| 1776 | May-September -- British navy and army seize control of New York City; Washington leaves the City in September after Battle of Harlem Heights | |
| 1776-1783 | New York City under British military command; virtually all maritime commerce ceases. | |
| 1783 | November 25 -- Washington and Governor George Clinton reclaim City from the just evacuated British following the signing of the Treaty of Paris. | |
| 1784 | February -- New York vessel Empress of China sails from NYC to China; marks the opening of America's China trade | |
| 1787 | Trade between Boston and New York with Pacific Northwest commences | |
| 1796 | Jay Treaty opens British ports to American trade; and vice versa | |
| 1798-1801 | United States in an undeclared naval war with France | |
| 1801 | Brooklyn Naval Yard opens | |
| 1803 | President Jefferson executes the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the national domain. | |
| 1807 | August -- Robert Fulton launches his steam-driven Clermont between NYC and Albany; inaugurates steamboat navigation on a commercial basis | |
| 1807 | December -- President Jefferson declared embargo against Great Britain, effectively shutting down New York's maritime trade with Europe. | |
| 1809 | March -- Embargo repealed by Congress and incoming president Madison | |
| 1810 | Discussion begin in earnest about building a canal linking Hudson River and Lake Erie by NYC Mayor De Witt Clinton (CC 1786); fears of traffic being deflected to Montreal | |
| 1811 | NYC street-grid plan adopted; solidified municipal control of waterfront | |
| 1812 | June -- United States declared war on Great Britain; many of the issues relate to maritime matters | |
| 1813 | July -- British blockade of New York Port becomes effective; by then, dozens of New York privateers at sea | |
| 1815 | End of War of 1812 inaugurates era of shipbuilding and maritime commerce; dawn of the era of steam | |
| 1817 | Governor DeWitt Clinton and New York legislature authorize the digging of the Erie Canal; digging commenced July 4th | |
| 1817 | Scheduled sailings from New York to Liverpool inaugurated by the Black Ball Line and its packet ship James Monroe | |
| 1817-1824 | 2000 laborers dig canal across 362 miles of rough country; 82 locks overcome 571 feet elevation difference | |
| 1824 | First dry dock in US built in NYC. | |
| 1825 | October 26 -- Erie Canal opened for traffic; freight rates from Buffalo to New York fell from $100 to $6 a ton; secures competitive advantage over Montreal and Mississippi River ports; leads to growth of Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland and Chicago | |
| 1840 | New York ships represented 1/5th of all US tonnage registered.: Manhattan had 63 wharves on East River and 50 on Hudson | |
| 1846 | New York shipbuilders develop clipper ship configuration; design sacrifices volume for speed; Sea Witch an early model; excellent for carrying expensive, small volume cargo (opium, gold, silver) | |
| 1846 | Hudson River Railroad established | |
| 1848 | Beginning of the California Gold Rush; California becomes important maritime trading point for New York | |
| 1850 | New York-built steamers of the Collins Line ; capture US postal trade with Europe; compete with Cunard Line for transatlantic passenger traffic; loses subsidy and goes bankrupt in 1857 | |
| 1850 | NYC shipyard of William H. Webb takes lead in building extreme clippers; Flying Cloud launched in 1851 | |
| 1851 | City blasting of subsurface rocks around Hell Gate to improve navigation in area | |
| 1853 | Boston-based Donald McKay becomes America's leading clipper-ship designer; Young America launched in 1853 | |
| 1856 | Diamond Reef, off Governor's Island, removed by blasting. | |
| 1857 | Financial Panic takes capital out of NYC sailing ships businesses; mark ascendance of steam-powered vessels | |
Bibliographical Sources:
Work Projects Administration, A Maritime History of New York (1941)
Robert G. Albion, The Rise of New York Port, 1800-1840
(1938)
Kevin Bone, ed., The New York Waterfront (Monacelli Press, 1997)