Imagining New Netherland: Origins and survival of Netherlandic architecture in Old New York

Utilizing surviving seventeenth-century building contracts from both the Netherlands and the Dutch colony of New Netherland in North America, "Imagining New Netherland" takes a critical look at what has been deemed Dutch colonial architecture. Previously the definition of Dutch colonial architecture relied upon an early twentieth-century construct based on the research of surviving late-seventeenth-century and eighteenth-century architecture, because no buildings survive from the initial period of European settlement, ca. 1624-1664. However, a close study of the surviving building contracts from both countries serves as a starting point for reconstructing the built environment of New Netherland.; A comparison of the surviving building contracts from New Netherland with seventeenth-century building contracts from the Netherlands reveals that they are very similar in their tripartite format, formal language, and the nomenclature used to describe the technical aspects of the buildings. This indicates a mirroring of Dutch traditions by the settlers of New Netherland. However the cultural heterogeneous make-up of the initial European settlers of the colony, the availability of different building materials, and the smaller number and skill level of the available craftsmen covering a much larger geographic area shaped this architecture from the beginning. Nevertheless the settlers of New Netherland created an architecture based on Netherlandic prototypes, relying on a structural bent system for framing with high ceilings and distinctive Netherlandic window types, perhaps more appropriately labeled New Netherlandic than Dutch colonial.; At some point, we are dealing with a population of builders and clients for whom the existing New Netherlandic architecture in the colony was their cultural heritage, for they had never seen Europe. In isolated areas in upstate New York, these New Netherlandic traditions may have lasted longer, whereas in settlements closer to New York City clients may have opted to follow more popular English trends leading to a more rapid change, or decline, in traditional framing methods. By the third quarter of the eighteenth century, facing an increasing decline in their 'Dutchness,' they gradually submitted to new external influences and blended into a more Anglo-American landscape.