This article is a timeline of the history of New York City in the U.S. state of New York.
Prior to 1700s
1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano, the first European to see New York Harbor arrives and names it Nouvelle-Angoulême. 1613 – Juan (Jan) Rodriguez became the first documented non-Native American to live on Manhattan Island. He is considered the first immigrant, the first person of African heritage, the first person of European heritage, the first merchant, the first Latino, and the first Dominican to settle in Manhattan. 1614 – Dutch settle on Manhattan Island. 1624 – New Amsterdam is founded by the Dutch West India Company. In May 1624, the first settlers in New Netherland arrived on Noten Eylandt (Nut or Nutten Island, now Governors Island). 1625 – Dutch Fort Amsterdam built. 1626 Lenape sell Manhattan Island to Dutch. Chattel slavery introduced to North America with the unloading of 11 Africans. 1639 – Jonas Bronck, a Swedish settler bought 500 acres of land from the Lenape tribe, creating a settlement called "Bronck's Land", soon after this settlement would be known as The Bronx. 1643 – Kieft's War between Lenape or Wappinger and Dutch colonists. Events partially took place within what would become the five boroughs. 1648 – First fire wardens (Martin Krieger, Thomas Hall, Adrian Wyser, and George Woolsey) appointed by Peter Stuyvesant 1650 – Population: approximately 1,000 1652 – City of New Amsterdam incorporated. 1653 – "Burgher government" established. 1654 – Sephardi Jews arrive from the Iberian Peninsula form Congregation Shearith Israel, the oldest Jewish congregation in the U.S. 1656 – Streets laid out. 1657 – Flushing Remonstrance signed laying foundation of religious freedom in America. 1659 – Labor strike by bakers. 1664 – September 24 – New Amsterdam is ceded by Peter Stuyvesant to England. It is renamed "New York" after James, Duke of York. 1665 June 12: Thomas Willett was appointed as the city's first mayor. Wallabout Bay in Brooklyn location of first recorded murder trial - Albert Wantanaer accused of killing Barent Jansen Blom. 1666 – Thomas Delavall was appointed as the city's second mayor. 1667 Town becomes part of England per Treaty of Breda (1667). Thomas Willett became mayor for the second time, and only the third overall mayor of the city. 1668 First yellow fever epidemic in the city. Cornelius Van Steenwyk was appointed as the fourth mayor of the city. 1672 – Boston Post Road constructed. 1673 – The Dutch regain New York, renaming it "New Orange" (from February 1673 to November 1674). 1674 – The Dutch cede "New York" permanently to England after the Third Anglo-Dutch War, per Treaty of Westminster (1674). 1678 – Thomas Delavall was reappointed as mayor for the third and last time, and 11th overall. 1686 – The Dongan Charter establishes the municipality of New York City. 1691 – Fish market established. 1696 – King's Arms coffee house in business. 1697 – First Trinity Church erected.
1700s
1702 – Yellow fever epidemic kills more than 500 people.Duffy, John. Epidemics in Colonial America, Baton Rouge, 1971. p. 142, 145 1703 Federal Hall facing Wall Street, New York's city hall, built. 42% of households enslaved people, second in the colonies only to Charleston. 1704 – The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel sends Elias Neau to minister to enslaved African Americans in North America. He establishes the first school that was open to African-Americans in New York City.Southern, pgs. 36–37 1709 – Founding of Trinity School (New York City), oldest continuously operated school in New York City. 1711 – Formal slave market established at Wall Street and the East River. 1712 – April: New York Slave Revolt of 1712. 1723 – Population: 7,248. 1733 – New York Weekly Journal begins publication. 1741 – Fear around slavery results in the New York Conspiracy of 1741 when 100 people were hanged, exiled or burned at the stake. 1752 – St. George's Chapel built. 1754 King's College (later Columbia College) established. New York Society Library, oldest cultural institution in New York, later serving as the first Library of Congress. 1756 – Population: 13,046. 1762 – Queen's Head Tavern (later named Fraunces Tavern) in business. 1765 – Stamp Act Congress meets in city. 1766 – St. Paul's Chapel built. 1767 – John Street Theatre opens. 1771 – New York Hospital founded. 1774 – Population: 22,861. 1775 – Bowne & Co. printers, founded by descendants of John Bowne of the Flushing Remonstrance, established at 39 Pearl Street. Until 2010 it was the oldest publicly traded company in the United States. 1776 David Mathews becomes the city's 43rd mayor, getting arrested in June 22 for a plot to kill George Washington. July 9: Statue of George III demolished and melted down for shot / bullets at Bowling Green square. August 27: Continental Army routed by British Army troops in the Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn. September 15: British troops capture lower Manhattan following the Landing at Kip's Bay on the East River. September 15: American troops stand off British troops in Battle of Harlem Heights in northern Manhattan. September 21: Approximately 1000 houses, a quarter of the city, are destroyed in the Great Fire of 1776 a week after British troops captured the city during the American Revolution. Arson is speculated (with Gen. George Washington and the British being among those blamed) and, during a round-up of suspicious persons by British forces, Nathan Hale is arrested. September 22: Execution of Nathan Hale by the British as a spy. November 16: Battle of Fort Washington, as Royal Navy warships sail north up the Hudson River and attack Forts Washington and Lee; British now controlling the river and in power in the area. 1778 – August 3: Fire near Cruger's Wharf destroys 64 homes. 1780 – Black population reaches 10,000; New York becomes the center of free Black life in North America.
1783 – November 25: British troops depart; New Yorkers celebrate Evacuation Day, the day Gen. George Washington returned to the city with his Continental Army and the last British forces left the newly recognized independent United States. War veteran John Van Arsdale climbs up a greased pole to remove the Union Jack left in defiance by the British, replacing it with the Stars and Stripes. 1785 – New York Manumission Society founded. 1786 – First Mass held in St. Peter's Church on Barclay Street, the city's first Catholic Church. 1787 October 27: The Federalist Papers begin publication. New-York African Free-School founded. 1789 March: 1st United States Congress begins. April 30: Inauguration of Washington as U.S. president. 1790 January 8: U.S. president Washington delivers country's first State of the Union Address. February: Supreme Court of the United States convenes. Population: 33,131. New York becomes the largest city in America, surpassing Philadelphia. 1794 – Minor yellow fever epidemic leads to creation of Bellevue Hospital. 1795 – Yellow fever epidemic kills 732 between July 19 and October 12, from a total population of about 50,000. 1796 Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church founded. December 9: The "Coffee House Slip Fire" burns from the foot of Wall Street and East River to Maiden Lane.Moss, Frank. The American Metropolis from Knickerbocker Days to the Present Time, London, 1897 p 139 1797 – Newgate Prison built. 1798 - The "great epidemic", a major yellow fever epidemic, kills 2086 people from late July to November.
1800s
1800s–1840s
1800 – Population: 60,489. 1801 – New York Evening Post newspaper begins publication. 1802 – American Academy of the Fine Arts founded. 1804 – New-York Historical Society founded. 1805 – Yellow fever epidemic occurs, during which as many as 50,000 people are said to have fled the city. 1807 – College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York established. 1808 – Roman Catholic Diocese of New York established (later elevated to an archdiocese) 1809 Abyssinian Baptist Church established. Irving's fictional History of New York published. 1810 – Scudder's American Museum in business. 1811 May 19: Close to 100 buildings burn down on Chatham Street. Commissioners' Plan of 1811 lays out the Manhattan grid between 14th Street and Washington Heights. 1812 – New York City Hall built. 1816 – American Bible Society founded. 1817 New York Stock & Exchange Board established. Staten Island Ferry established. 1818 Lyceum of Natural History established. Brooks Brothers first opens on Catherine and Cherry Streets in Lower Manhattan. 1819 – Yellow fever epidemic occurs. 1820 – Apprentices' Library established. 1821 September 3: Norfolk and Long Island Hurricane causes a storm surge of 13 ft in one hour, leading to widespread flooding south of Canal Street, but few deaths are reported. The hurricane is estimated to have been a Category 3 event and to have made landfall at Jamaica Bay. African Grove theatre founded. 1822 Last major outbreak of yellow fever in the city occurs. Fulton Fish Market established. 1823 – The poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas", also known as "T'was the Night Before Christmas", first published anonymously, later attributed to Clement Clark Moore. 1824 - May 15: The boiler of steamship Aetna explodes as the ship is en route in New York Harbor. At least 10 passengers are killed, and many more seriously injured. 1825 Labor strike by United Tailoresses Society. Juvenile House of Refuge begins operating. Population: 166,136. Up the Hudson River, Erie Canal begins operating. 1826 – Lord & Taylor clothier in business. 1827 July 4: Independence Day parade marks the end of slavery and full emancipation in New York. Delmonico's cafe in business. 1828 – American Institute of the City of New York founded. 1829 – Workingmen's Party organized. 1830 – Sociedad Benéfica Cubana y Puertorriqueña formed.Burrows, Edwin & Wallace, Mike. Gotham: Oxford University Press, 1998 pg. 1212 1831 – University of the City of New York incorporated. 1832 – Cholera pandemic reaches North America. It breaks out in New York City on June 26, peaks at 100 deaths per day during July, and finally abates in December. More than 3500 people die in the city, many in the lower-class neighborhoods, particularly Five Points. Another 80,000 people, one third of the population, are said to have fled the city during the epidemic. 1833 – Harper & Brothers publisher in business. 1834 July: Anti-abolitionist riots (1834). Convention for the Improvement of the Free People of Color held. Park Avenue Tunnel (roadway) opens. Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence becomes mayor. 1835 September 7: The first performance is given at the newly built Franklin Theatre. December 16: New York Stock Exchange and hundreds of other buildings are destroyed by the Great Fire, which rages for two days in the Financial District. Efforts to stop the fire are limited by sub-zero temperatures, which freeze water in hoses, wells, and the East River. Twenty-three insurance companies are wiped out by the resulting claims. School of Law of the University of the City of New York established. 1836 Union Theological Seminary founded. Astor House hotel in business. 1837 - Flour riot of 1837 destroys 500–600 barrels of flour and 1,000 bushels of wheat. 1838 Rutger's Institute established. Halls of Justice built. Tombs Prison begins operating. Opening of Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. 1839 Astor Library founded. Sunday Mercury newspaper begins publication.