Windmills? Hills? Red-roofed houses?
If you sailed into the Battery and happened upon Manhattan island about 400 years ago, this is the modest fort and settlement that would have greeted you.
That’s according to this postcard, stamped 1910, that depicts “Fort Amsterdam ‘Now the Battery’ in Kieft’s Days,” as the back states.
“In 1632, Governor Minuet was recalled and succeeded by Von Twiller, who again was succeeded by Wm. Kieft in 1637,” the postcard reads. “Kieft was recalled for cruelty in 1646.”
Kieft was the fifth governor of New Netherlands. Considered spiteful and ignorant, he ordered the massacre of local Native Americans, which only served to unite various tribes against the Dutch.
Ephemeral New York 