Creative History

  In the late 17th century,  when New York City was still known to many as Neue Amsterdam, having only recently fallen under British control in 1664; when the Hudson River was still called the North River and the Delaware River was still referred to as the South River, there was a settlement known as Communipaw, on the New Jersey side of the harbor then referred to as the colony of Bergen. Even today, in what is modern day Jersey City, there’s still a neighborhood along the waterfront near Liberty Island sitting in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty that is known as Communipaw.   It is considered to be Jersey City’s oldest neighborhood. In 1896 American author and folklorist Charles M. Skinner, a native New Yorker himself, published a work entitled Myths and Legends of Our Own Land .  In this work he recounted a story called “The Party from Gibbet Island”.  This story centered around the colonial community of Communipaw in present day New Jersey. ...

  Dozens of war canoes of the Susquehannock Nation, long hollowed out tree trunks, gather on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. On the night of September 15, 1655 the unsuspecting residents of New Amsterdam across the Hudson, the river they call the North River at the time, have no idea what awaits them as the morning approaches. Six-hundred Susquehannock warriors armed with flintlock muskets, tomahawks and flaming torches fill the dozens of war canoes and resolutely row them towards the tip of lower Manhattan and Staten Island. The warriors are seeking retribution and recompense for what the Dutch have just done.  Only days before the Dutch under the command of Peter Stuyvesant had conquered the Susquehannock’s largest trading partner in the area, the colony of New Sweden and now they control not only New Amsterdam and all European settlements along the Hudson River, but the Netherlands can also claim all of present day southern New Jersey for their burgeoning c...