🗽New York

The Empire State

New York was one of the original thirteen colonies and has been central to American commerce, immigration, and culture for more than three centuries. New York City — the nation's largest — sits at the mouth of the Hudson River and has served as the principal gateway for millions of immigrants, while upstate New York holds a surprisingly rural landscape of mountains, lakes, and farmland.

From New Amsterdam to New York

The Dutch West India Company established a trading post at the tip of Manhattan Island in 1625, calling the settlement New Amsterdam. In 1664, an English fleet arrived and the Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant surrendered without firing a shot. The English renamed the colony New York after James, Duke of York, the future King James II. The street grid and the presence of names like Harlem (after Haarlem) and Brooklyn (from Breukelen) still preserve the Dutch inheritance.

Revolutionary Role

New York was one of the most strategically important colonies during the American Revolution, and much of the fighting in 1776 and 1777 happened on its soil. General George Washington's Continental Army was nearly destroyed at the Battle of Long Island in August 1776, the largest battle of the entire war by troop count. The decisive American victory at Saratoga in October 1777 — fought in upstate New York — convinced France to enter the war on the American side.

After independence, New York City briefly served as the nation's capital. George Washington was inaugurated as the first president at Federal Hall on Wall Street on April 30, 1789.

Erie Canal and the Empire

The Erie Canal, completed in 1825, connected the Hudson River to Lake Erie, opening a cheap water route from the Atlantic to the Midwest. The canal transformed New York City into the commercial capital of the United States and earned New York the nickname "The Empire State." Cities along the canal — Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica — boomed and remain today as anchors of upstate life.

Immigration and Ellis Island

From 1892 to 1954, Ellis Island in New York Harbor served as the primary entry point for immigrants to the United States. More than 12 million people passed through its halls during that period, and it is estimated that roughly 40 percent of all current Americans have at least one ancestor who was processed there. The Statue of Liberty, a gift from France dedicated in 1886, stands on a nearby island as the first sight of America for arriving ships.

Geography Beyond the City

Most of New York is not concrete. The state includes the Adirondack Mountains in the north — a six-million-acre park larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and Great Smoky Mountains combined — and the Catskills, the Finger Lakes, the Hudson River Valley, and a long shoreline on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Niagara Falls sits on the Canadian border and remains one of the most visited natural landmarks in North America.

Firsts and Famous New Yorkers

• Four presidents were born in New York: Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Donald Trump was also born in New York City.
• The first baseball game under modern rules was played in Hoboken, New Jersey, by the New York Knickerbockers in 1846.
• Wall Street in lower Manhattan takes its name from a wooden defensive wall built by the Dutch in 1653.
• The state's highest point is Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks at 5,344 feet.
• Broadway in Manhattan has been the center of American commercial theater since the late 19th century.

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