Learning Resources

Welcome to the Stuyvesant Tour from Dutch Heritage World Tours. We will take you to an area of Manhattan where in the 17th century Peter Stuyvesant (or Petrus as he was called) had his country home. Stuyvesant came to the colony of New Netherland in 1647 as Director General. The Dutch West India Company established this colony in 1624. New Amsterdam, currently New York City, was the capital. He was not the first Director of the colony. Before him there were Willem Verhulst, Pieter Minuit, Wouter van Twiller, and Willem Kieft. Pieter Minuit was the Director who under the auspices of the West India Company negotiated the island of Manahattan with the Lenape Indians. Near the Staten Island Ferry we find his name represented in the Peter Minuit Plaza.

This trip will take you to dozens of places of interest that are all connected to the Dutch past of the Hudson Valley. The Hudson River and the land between New Amsterdam (now New York) and Beverwijck (now Albany) formed the most important part of the colony of New Netherland. Under the rule of the Dutch West India Company the colony existed for only forty years: from 1624 – 1664. However, even after English rule most of the Dutch settlers stayed here and left clear marks. Many settlers and their descendants even became part of the elite of the English colony and the State of New York.