In 1625, construction began on the citadel of Fort Amsterdam on the island of Manhattan, later called New Amsterdam (Nieuw Amsterdam), in what is now Lower Manhattan. The 1625 establishment of Fort Amsterdam on the southern tip of Manhattan Island is recognized as the birth of New York City. The Dutch bought it from the Native Americans and called it New Amsterdam, then the English took it and changed the name to New York. The name Manhattan comes from the Munsi language of Lenni Lenape, which means island of many hills.
Other theories say that it comes from one of Munsi's three words. Other possibilities are manahatouh, which means a place where there is wood available for making bows and arrows, and menatay, which simply means the island. Variations of Manna-hata appeared on several 17th-century maps, including Manhattas and Eyland Manatus. Modern Manhattan is derived from these first names.
In Manhattan's early days, wooden construction and poor access to water supplies left the city vulnerable to fires. Because the city contaminated its own water supply, Lower Manhattan needed to find another source of water, prompting Aaron Burr to form the Manhattan Company. I realized that if I could geolocate that map and adjust it to Manhattan today, I could find out what was here centuries ago.