1624 -Mannahatta Becomes Manhattan - 1624 — Mannahatta Becomes Manhattan

Before the arrival of any European colonists, Manhattan was inhabited by the Lenape Indigenous people. Over time, the Lenape were fully displaced from the island by the increasing European colonists. In 1624, Dutch colonists arrived in what is now downtown Manhattan and established the New Amsterdam colony, which existed until it was replaced by British rule. Further north on the island, however, Manhattan was still characterized by rural countryside, small farms and wealthy country estates. The city of New York developed northward from the southernmost tip, but the Upper West Side remained sparsely developed through the Civil War.

The Castello Plan, a 1660 map of New Amsterdam (the top right corner is roughly north). The fort gave The Battery its name, the large street going from the fort past the wall became Broadway, and the city wall (right) gave Wall Street its name.