Governors Island, for example, was a single, larger landmass known as Paggank, a name given by the Lenape that reflected its use for nut harvesting. The interior was a place of farms, country estates, and wandering paths, a stark contrast to the engineered environment that would one day replace it.
Battery Park Original Harbor 1600s New York: A Landscape Lost
The hills of Manhattan were leveled, their soil used to fill in the surrounding tidal marshes and create new land for development. This was a world defined by the Lenapehoking, a vast and vibrant ecosystem where the concepts of a metropolis were as distant as the stars, existing instead as a delicate balance between humanity and the raw, untamed environment that sustained it.
Expansive, old-growth forests covered the majority of the land, providing shelter and resources. Early Maps and a Foreign Landscape For the first century of its existence, the city remained a fragile outpost in a wilderness that seemed inconceivably vast to its European inhabitants.
Battery Park Original Harbor 1600s New York: A Landscape Transformed
The Collect Pond, a vital freshwater source and scenic landmark, was buried beneath Canal Street after becoming a polluted health hazard. This intricate geography created a rich biodiversity, attracting a multitude of waterfowl and supporting vast fisheries that were the cornerstone of the local economy.
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