Fort Nassau was a '' factorij'' in

New Netherland New Netherland () was a colony of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod. Settlements were established in what became the states ...

between 1624–1651 located at the mouth of Big Timber Creek at its confluence with the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

. It was the first known permanent European-built structure in what would become the state of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. The creek name is a derived from the

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the List of languages by total number of speak ...

''Timmer Kill'' as recorded by David Pietersen de Vries in his memoirs of his journey of 1630–1633. The

Delaware Valley The Philadelphia metropolitan area, also known as Greater Philadelphia and informally called the Delaware Valley, the Philadelphia tri-state area, and locally and colloquially Philly–Jersey–Delaware, is a major metropolitan area in the Nor ...

and its bay was called the "South River" (Dutch: ''Zuyd Rivier''); the "North River" of the colony was 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 ...

. The factorij was established for the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

, mostly in beaver pelts, with the indigenous populations of

Susquehannock The Susquehannock, also known as the Conestoga, Minquas, and Andaste, were an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian people who lived in the lower Susquehanna River watershed in what is now Pennsylvania. Their name means “people of the muddy river.” T ...

, who spoke an Iroquoian language, and the

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

, whose language was of the Algonquian family. They also wanted to retain a physical claim to the territory. While the fort is generally described as being at today's Gloucester City, New Jersey analysis places it on the peninsula in the cove, now Brooklawn or possibly on the south side of the creek's cove, at today's Westville Initially the fort was occupied intermittently, and on occasion used by the local population in seasonal migrations. In 1635, colonists from

Virginia Colony The Colony of Virginia was a British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colony lasted for t ...

occupied the fort. The governor of

at the time,

Wouter van Twiller Wouter van Twiller (May 22, 1606 – buried August 29, 1654) was an employee of the Dutch West India Company and the fourth Director of New Netherland. He governed from 1632 until 1638, succeeding Peter Minuit, who was recalled by the Dutch ...

, sent a force and was successful in retaking the fort. This was the first of conflicts between the English and Dutch in the New World. While thereafter the fort was continuously manned, the location was ill-suited to trade, as the richest fur-trapping areas were on the west side of the Delaware River. From 1638–1655 the

was part of

New Sweden New Sweden () was a colony of the Swedish Empire between 1638 and 1655 along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a g ...

. It was established by

Peter Minuit Peter Minuit (French language, French: ''Pierre Minuit'', Dutch language, Dutch: ''Peter Minnewit''; 1580 – August 5, 1638) was a Walloons, Walloon merchant and politician who was the 3rd Director of New Netherland, Director of the Dutch Nort ...

, former

Director of New Netherland This is a list of Directors, appointed by the Dutch West India Company, of the 17th century Dutch province of New Netherland (''Nieuw-Nederland'' in Dutch) in North America. Only the last, Peter Stuyvesant, held the title of Director General. A ...

who had purchased the island of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. In 1651, Petrus Stuyvesant, Director-General of New Netherland, had his local representative Andries Hudde partially dismantle the fort, relocating its armaments and other equipment to a position on the other side of the river. He wanted to menace the Swedish and re-assert jurisdiction of the region; he renamed the structure as

Fort Casimir Fort Casimir or Fort Trinity was a Dutch fort in the seventeenth-century colony of New Netherland. It was located on a no-longer existing barrier island at the end of Chestnut Street in what is now New Castle, Delaware. Background The Dutch c ...

. On

Trinity Sunday Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christianity, Western Christian liturgical year, liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the ...

in 1654,

Johan Risingh Johan Classon Risingh (1617–1672) was a Swedish politician who was the last governor of New Sweden, the Swedish colony in North America. Biography Risingh was born in 1617 in Risinge, Östergötland, Sweden. His father was a pastor named Rever ...

, Commissary and Councilor to

Governor Lt. Col. Johan Printz, officially assumed his duties. He tried to expel the Dutch from the

and sent forces against Fort Casimir; the garrison surrendered. He renamed it as Fort Trinity (in Swedish ''Fort Trefaldighet''). The Swedes now completely controlled their colony. On June 21, 1654, local bands of the Lenape met with the Swedes to reaffirm their ownership.

Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant ( – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as the Directors of New Netherland, director-general of New Netherland from 1647 to 1664, when the colony was pro ...

led a Dutch force which retook the fort on September 11, 1655. He renamed it as

New Amstel New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The city is located six miles (10 km) south of Wilmington and is situated on the Delaware River. As of 2020, the city's population was 5,551. New Castle constitutes part o ...

(in Dutch ''Nieuw Amstel''). Subsequently,

Fort Christina Fort Christina, also called Fort Altena, was the first Sweden, Swedish settlement in North America and the principal settlement of the New Sweden colony. Built in 1638 and named after Christina, Queen of Sweden, it was located approximately 1&nb ...

also fell to the Dutch on September 15 and all

came under their control. The Dutch appointed John Paul Jacquet as governor, and made New Amstel the capital of the Dutch-controlled colony.Siege of Christina Fort, 1655 http://etc.usf.edu/Maps/pages/8100/8116/8116.htm

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

New River Notes Delaware Historical Timeline

External links

Camden County, New Jersey Nassau Nassau 1623 establishments in the Dutch Empire Nassau 1651 disestablishments in the Thirteen Colonies

See also

References

External links

External links