The Castello Plan: New Amsterdam Map

This document is a map of New Amsterdam that was created by Jacques Cortelyou, a French Huguenot surveyor. In 1660, Cortelyou was commissioned by the Dutch West India Company to make a detailed map of the city. The company was concerned that instead of building houses and contributing to the growth of the city, its inhabitants were engaging in land speculation by planting gardens and orchards and waiting for land values to increase. The map provides a rare view of the design of New Amsterdam, including buildings, streets, gardens, and the defensive wall that was constructed in 1653. The document is known as the Castello Plan, named after the Villa di Castello in Florence, where the map was rediscovered in 1900. The Castello Plan depicts New Amsterdam at the height of its prosperity when it was the administrative center of New Netherland and had a population of several thousand. Four years later, in 1664, the colony was conquered by the English in a surprise attack. New Netherland became New York, and New Amsterdam became New York City.