Issue 2 – Steve Kovacs Antiique Maps and Fun Facts
By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)
LOVELAND, OH (June 10, 200) – In this second issue of the new Steve Kovacs: Antique Maps & Fun Facts feature here on Loveland Beacon, we take a look at the settlement of Manhattan in the 19th Century.
Steve Kovacs, Antique Map Collector, Loveland Resident (Provided)
The Dutch Settle Manhattan:
On this day in 1610 the first Dutch settlers arrived to colonize Manhattan Island.
While Giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European to sight New York harbor in 1524, it was 85 years later that the area was properly mapped by Henry Hudson on behalf of the Dutch.
Soon the colonists arrived from Holland. Their fur trading business grew, and they acquired Manhattan Island from the Canarsee Native Americans for traded items in 1626. The colony’s population rapidly increased, and the settlers established the city of New Amsterdam. The English eventually conquered it and renamed the city as New York and took full procession of it in 1674. This 1830 map of lower Manhattan, unusually oriented with south towards the top, is by the little-known cartographer, William Hooker.
Lower Manhattan circa 1830 (Credit Steve Kovacs)
Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps. Click here to visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Antique Maps & Fun Facts here on Loveland Beacon.
