YOU don’t see a lot of lengthy inscriptions in Dutch in NYC. There are street names, or perhaps slogans on borough flags (Brooklyn’s is “Eendracht maakt macht,” which translates to “In unity there is strength”). That’s because officially, Holland has not been in charge in the NYC area since the 1660s, when she was ousted by the British. An exception can be found in Battery Park, near the entrance at State Street and Battery Place.
This flagpole, with gold-leafed inscriptions in English and Dutch, was a gift from the Netherlands to NYC in 1926, the 300th anniversary of the “purchase” of the island by Peter Minuit from the Lenape in 1626. It was designed by H.A. van den Eijnde (1869-1939), a sculptor from Haarlem in the Netherlands. It’s also a fascinating example of the Art Deco school, with unique lettering coated by gold leaf.
Originally the flagpole stood south of Castle Clinton, then the site of the New York Aquarium. In 1939 the monument underwent restoration and the inscriptions were recut. Subsequently, a fire caused damage to the monument. When the park was closed from 1940 to 1952 for renovations and to build the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, the monument was relocated to its present site at the northeast entrance.
More recent scholarship suggests the transcation happened far uptown, in Inwood Hill Park. In the 17th Century the Lenape did not have the same concept of private property that the Europeans had. They merely believed they were selling rights to share the island with the Dutch.
In 2000, the flagpole was again renovated and rededicated.
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7/31/25
3 comments
Although the Dutch gave up New Netherlands in 1664, they briefly recaptured it in 1672. But it was for less that a year.
The peace treaty offered them colonies in the Caribbean and South America in exchange for the English returning to New York.
So it happened in 1673 that Dutch rule ended here.
I just finished a fascinating new book “Taking Manhattan”, by Russel Shorto, that gave a good explanation around the “sale/purchase” of Manhattan Island”. It also opened my eyes to the interplay between the Dutch (Stuyvesant) and the English (Nicholls), that resulted in the taking of New Amsterdam and its becoming New York. Nicolls’ desire to continue the strong commercial center that the city was, required him to keep its unique multi-ethnic and polyglot character. This is the basis of what makes current New York such a wonderfully diverse place. I was surprised to learn how much of Richard Nicolls’ mission in New Amsterdam also involved a failed attempt to re-impose strong English rule on the Boston colony. It helped me understand why New York and Boston were, and are, so different.
I head about this book by Russel Shorto listening an interview with him on WNYC some months ago and it’s on my reading wish list. I’m currently reading his book about the history of Amsterdam (“Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City”) until “Taking Manhattan” is available to loan from the library.