1620-1700
Historic Contact Period 

Dutch Arrival and Massapequa: The Historic Contact Period 

The arrival of the Dutch East India Company in North America, with Henry Hudson's 1609 voyage, initiated the Contact Period. The Dutch established a presence in 1624, founding New Amsterdam on purchased Lenape land. As New Netherland grew under Governor Peter Stuyvesant, Dutch influence extended to Long Island, bringing them into contact with the Massapeag - the group living at Fort Neck. This European arrival brought significant challenges for Indigenous populations, including disease and land disruption. The introduction of new place names for Massapeag also began to alter the landscape. This era of Dutch contact was a transformative period, laying the groundwork for future New York while profoundly impacting its original inhabitants. The Dutch were a business outfit, not led to the new world looking for religious freedom as the English. They worked to establish trade relations with the Indigenous people and build their land holdings through treaties and real estate deals.

The Dutch would purchase Oyster Bay first and then move south to Fort Neck and Massapeag.