Fort Nassau was the first

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

settlement in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, located beside the " North River" (the modern

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian f ...

) within present-day

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, in the United States. The ''

factorij Factory was the common name during the medieval and early modern eras for an entrepôt – which was essentially an early form of free-trade zone or transshipment point. At a factory, local inhabitants could interact with foreign merchants, of ...

'' was a small fortification which served as a trading post and warehouse.

History

Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...

explored what would be known as the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

for the Dutch in 1609, including Castle Island which was at the center of Native American

fur A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

trading routes from the interior.

Hendrick Christiaensen Hendrick Christiaensen was a Dutch explorer who was involved in the earlier exploration of what became the colony of New Netherland. Life Hendrick Christiaensen was a ship captain and trader employed by the Van Tweenhuysen Company of Amsterdam. ...

chose Castle Island to build Fort Nassau, in 1614 or 1615 as a dual warehouse and military defense structure and named the fort in honor of the

stadtholder In the Low Countries, a stadtholder ( ) was a steward, first appointed as a medieval official and ultimately functioning as a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...

of the United Netherlands, who was of the

House of Orange-Nassau The House of Orange-Nassau (, ), also known as the House of Orange because of the prestige of the princely title of Orange, also referred to as the Fourth House of Orange in comparison with the other noble houses that held the Principality of Or ...

. Nineteenth and early-twentieth century historians claimed that around 1540, French fur traders built a stone "castle" or fortified trading post on Castle Island in the location where Fort Nassau was later built. However, modern scholars have found no evidence to support this claim. Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in

. Jacob Eelkens became commander on Christiaensen's death in 1616. In 1617 a

freshet The term ''freshet'' is most commonly used to describe a snowmelt, an annual high water event on rivers resulting from snow and river ice melting. Description A spring freshet can sometimes last several weeks on large river systems, resulting ...

damaged the fort to such an extent that it was abandoned and rebuilt on more secure ground at the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

of the Normans

Kill Kill often refers to: *Homicide, one human killing another *cause death, to kill a living organism, to cause its death Other common uses include: *Kill (body of water), a body of water, most commonly a creek *Kill (command), a computing command *K ...

(called the ''Tawasentha'' by the natives) with the Hudson River. This new fortification was built by Eelkens on a

prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

called ''Tawass-gunshee'' by the natives. Once the new fort was completed, the Dutch completed their first treaty with natives of North America. In 1618 a freshet destroyed the new fort, and it was abandoned for good. In 1624, the Dutch built

Fort Orange Fort Orange () was the first permanent Dutch settlement in New Netherland; the present-day city and state capital Albany, New York developed near this site. It was built in 1624 as a replacement for Fort Nassau, which had been built on n ...

about a mile to the north, at current Albany. Castle Island is now part of the

Port of Albany–Rensselaer The Port of Albany–Rensselaer, widely known as the Port of Albany, is a port of entry in the United States with facilities on both sides of the Hudson River in Albany, New York, Albany and Rensselaer, New York, Rensselaer, New York (state), New ...

Geography

Fort Nassau was built on what is now called Westerlo Island and was formerly called Castle Island. The island was part of the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

until 1926 when it was annexed to the city of Albany. It has been part of the Port of Albany-Rensselaer since 1932.

Structure

Fort Nassau was a long by wide building enclosed by a square stockade surrounded by an wide

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

. The fort was defended by two large

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

and eleven

swivel gun A swivel gun (or simply swivel) is a small cannon mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun with two barrels that rot ...

s. The fort was garrisoned by 10-12 men.

References

External links

The Trading House 1615
Artist Len Tantillo's vision of what Fort Nassau may have looked like {{authority control Nassau Nassau 1614 establishments in the Dutch Empire History of Albany, New York Dutch-American culture in New York (state)

History

Geography

Structure

See also

References

External links