In 1969 the removal of an entire block of filled land adjacent to Old Slip in Manhattan during construction of a new building revealed a sequence of soil deposits dating from about 1690 to 1800. Sampling of these soil layers indicated deposition during successive periods of land filling in the area, before and after the construction of Cruger’s Wharf at this location in 1739 and 1740. Old Slip provides an example of a type of Dutch-influenced waterfront development beginning in the late 17th century that contrasts with development of the waterfront in Boston, Philadelphia, and other cities initially settled by the English. Colonial American city waterfront development differed distinctively, on the other hand, from English precedents.

The Port of New York@@@The Rise of New York Port, 1815-1860

Old Slip and Cruger's Wharf at New York: An Archaeological Perspective of the Colonial American Waterfront

IT IS A HISTORICAL paradox that a hundred years ago Cape Horn was less remote than it is today. Though distant some seven thousand miles to the south of the principal North Atlantic ports, and months away in time, it was intimately known to countless Yankee seamen who had sighted it from the decks and crosstrees of whalers and merchantmen; its name had a familiar ring to Easterners and Westerners alike. In 1849 the Horn was rounded by more Americans than in any previous year-thus becoming still better known.' This great increase in traffic is a chapter in the story of the rush for California which followed President Polk's official acknowledgment before Congress, December 5, 1848, that gold had been found on the American River. The reasons are plain why so many chose the Cape Horn route to the gold fields. It could be undertaken at once; the necessary maritime facilities were at hand in the populous coastal cities; an all-sea voyage was a more familiar mode of transportation to most Easterners-New Yorkers and New Englanders, particularly; and a through sea route enabled enterprising emigrants to

The Cape Horn Route to California, 1849

The economic development of countries, such as the USA or Canada, has been well documented by economic and business historians. The concept of ‘channels of distribution’ has been an elusive one to grasp because it is linked with what channel members do and what distributive functions they perform. All channels of distribution are both economic and political entities. They all have a historical origin which reflects the social and economic structure of a country, a region or a market. They have been structured, moulded and organized over time to reflect the legal, cultural and social values of the participants and their environment. The practice of marketing has been around since man recognized the benefits of exchange. That need to trade soon led to a need for traders, merchants or middlemen to facilitate business transactions, even when the producer assumed some, if not all, the distributive tasks of a middleman.

The Port of New York@@@The Rise of New York Port, 1815-1860

Citations

Old Slip and Cruger's Wharf at New York: An Archaeological Perspective of the Colonial American Waterfront

The Cape Horn Route to California, 1849

History of channels of distribution

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