Birth of a City: Nieuw Amsterdam & Old New York

LORDS' CANAL
Location: ? Broad Street
Dutch Name: ? Heere Gracht

Director-General Petrus Stuyvesant had workmen create the Gracht, or Canal, here on the site of a small creek during the 1650s. The canal stretched from near today's Exchange Place to the East River shore at Pearl Street. Townspeople built bridges crossing it at what are now Beaver Street, Stone Street, and Bridge Street. The canal provided security against fires, bringing a supply of water into the heart of the town.

Canals were a key feature of the landscape in the Netherlands, where waterways allowed passengers and cargoes to travel through busy cities. The name of this modest channel was taken from the Heere Gracht in Amsterdam, one of Europe's grandest canals, lined with the mansions of rich merchants.

Some of the town's notable institutions lined the street running along the canal. These included the elementary school, the Latin school for older students, and the deacon's house for the poor, one of New York's first social services. But the canal gradually became a polluted nuisance. In 1676 it was filled in and became the street you see today.

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