Dutch Empire/Place Names

New York City was once called New Amsterdam. Parts of New York City are named after original Dutch colonial settlements: Brooklyn, after Breukelen, Harlem after Haarlem. Staten Island, was originally called Staten Eylandt after the Dutch parliament (Staten) who paid for the expeditions up the Hudson River. The place Old Town on Staten Island was originally called Oude Dorp, which in English means Old Town.

The last Director-General of the colony of New Netherland, Peter Stuyvesant, has given his name to several streets, a neighborhood and a few schools in New York City. In Columbia County, near Albany, there is a town named Stuyvesant.

Monument of Peter Stuyvesant, it reads "Pieter Stuyvesant, Director General of New Netherland and Aruba"

The following towns in New York have names that were derived from Dutch: Claverack, Cobleskill, Greenbush (East and North), Kinderhook, Plattekill, Nassau, Poestenkill, Rensselaer, Saugerties, Valatie, Voorheesville, Watervliet, and Wynantskill.

Many towns and cities in Suriname share names with cities in the Netherlands, such as Alkmaar, and Groningen.


Dutch Empire

Introduction • Bibliography • Authors • Glossary • Print Version

Origins of an Empire • Dutch Revolt • The Beginning of an Empire • Asia • The Atlantic • Culture During the Golden Age • Anglo-Dutch Wars • Wars With Sweden • Later Wars • Batavian Republic • Kingdom of Holland • Under the French • Belgian Revolution • Expansion in the East Indies • Suriname and the Caribbean • German Invasion of the Netherlands • Japanese Invasion of the East Indies • Indonesian National Revolution • Suriname Independence • Language • Place Names • Architecture • Kings and Queens • Stadtholders of Holland • Governors-General of the Dutch East Indies • Director-Generals of New Netherland • Governors of Cape Colony • Maps and Pictures