Giovanni da Verrazano, an
Italian-born navigator sailing for France,
discovered New York Bay in 1524. Henry Hudson, an
Englishman employed by the Dutch, reached the bay
and sailed up the river now bearing his name in
1609, the same year that northern New York was
explored and claimed for France by Samuel de
Champlain.
In 1624 the first permanent Dutch settlement was
established at Fort Orange (now Albany). One year
later Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan Island from
the Indians for trinkets worth about 60 Dutch
guilders and founded the Dutch colony of New
Amsterdam (now New York City), which was surrendered
to the English in 1664.
New York's extremely rapid commercial growth may be
partly attributed to Gov. De Witt Clinton, who
pushed through the construction of the Erie Canal
(Buffalo to Albany), which was opened in 1825.
Today, the 641-mile Gov. Thomas E. Dewey Thruway
connects New York City with Buffalo and with
Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania express
highways. Two toll-free superhighways, the
Adirondack Northway (linking Albany with the
Canadian border) and the North-South Expressway
(crossing central New York from the Pennsylvania
border to the Thousand Islands), have been opened.
The great metropolis of New York City is the nerve
center of the nation. It is a leader in
manufacturing, foreign trade, commerce and banking,
book and magazine publishing, and theatrical
production. A leading seaport, its John F. Kennedy
International Airport is one of the busiest airports
in the world. New York is also home to the New York
Stock Exchange, the largest in the world. The
printing and publishing industry is the city's
largest manufacturing employer, with the apparel
industry second.
Nearly all the rest of the state's manufacturing is
done on Long Island, along the Hudson River north to
Albany, and through the Mohawk Valley, Central New
York, and Southern Tier regions to Buffalo. The St.
Lawrence seaway and power projects have opened the
North Country to industrial expansion and have given
the state a second seacoast.
The state ranks seventh in the nation in
manufacturing, with 805,200 employees in 2002. The
principal industries are printing and publishing,
industrial machinery and equipment, electronic
equipment, and instruments. The convention and
tourist business is also an important source of
income.
New York farms produce cattle and calves, corn and
poultry, and vegetables and fruits. The state is a
leading wine producer.
Major points of interest are Castle Clinton, Fort
Stanwix, and Statue of Liberty National Monuments;
Niagara Falls; U.S. Military Academy at West Point;
National Historic Sites that include homes of
Franklin D. Roosevelt at Hyde Park and Theodore
Roosevelt in Oyster Bay and New York City; the
Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca
Falls; National Memorials, including Grant's Tomb
and Federal Hall in New York City; Fort Ticonderoga;
the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown; and the
United Nations, skyscrapers, museums, theaters, and
parks in New York City. |
