New York is a remarkably mountainous state. The Appalachian Mountains (which include the Catskills) run across the southeastern part of the state; the Adirondacks lie to the northeast; and the Alleghenies extend out of Pennsylvania and into southwestern New York. Several major rivers flow through the state, including the Hudson, Mohawk and St. Lawrence. Lake Erie and Lake Ontario form much of the state's western boundary, and Lake Champlain runs along the state line in the northeast, dividing New York from Vermont.
The first European to visit New York was Giovanni da Verrazano, who explored parts of the East Coast for France. He sailed into New York Bay in 1524, but the region remained unsettled for almost another century. In the interim, a number of Native American tribes continued to occupy the land. Algonquian-speaking groups (Narragansett, Shinnecock, Montauk, Delaware) lived near the ocean and along the Hudson River Valley, and the Iroquois Confederacy, including the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora tribes, occupied interior New York.
Both English explorer Henry Hudson (who sailed for the Dutch) and his French counterpart Samuel de Champlain arrived in what is now New York in 1609, establishing the first European settlement in Albany in 1614. The Dutch colonized Manhattan Island (Fort Amsterdam) in 1626 and made one of the most famous land purchases—or swindles, depending on how you look at it—of all time: The newcomers bought Manhattan from the Delaware tribe for 60 guilders (about US$24) worth of trade goods. But the Dutch hold on the island was far from permanent.
In fact, most of New York moved back and forth between British and Dutch control until 1674, when the Dutch ultimately relinquished their colony in exchange for uncontested control of what is now the South American country of Suriname.
Upstate New York became the site of many major battles in the French and Indian Wars (which ultimately served to weaken the Iroquois Confederacy), as well as in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. With the construction of the Erie Canal in 1825 and the state's rapid industrialization, New York quickly became an economic powerhouse.
However, the Civil War slowed New York's rapid growth significantly as New Yorkers, who were strongly in favor of abolishing slavery, contributed heavily to the war effort. In postwar years, New York City was vulnerable to corruption, but it also became the front door to the Land of Opportunity. Immigrants from all over Europe flooded into the city, spreading through the state and the nation.
As commerce and the population swelled, New York became the nation's largest city, with towering skyscrapers and crowded streets. It was the pacesetter for urban America throughout the 20th century and continues to be to this day.
Among New York's primary draws are Niagara Falls, New York City, Broadway shows, the Statue of Liberty, scenic drives (such as I-87's tour of the northern part of the state), the Finger Lakes, Great Lakes Erie and Ontario, Fire Island National Seashore, horse racing, the Adirondacks, great food, the Thousand Islands, the Catskills, U.S. history, the Hudson River Valley and cultural attractions.
Just about everyone—from those travelers interested in outdoor recreation to those seeking big-city nightlife—will have a great time in New York state. The only travelers who may want to think twice about New York City are those who can't afford it, as it can be a fairly expensive place to vacation.
Broadway, whose official name is Highway 9, is one of the world's longest streets. It originates at the Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan and wends its way north to Albany, a distance of 150 mi/241 km.
Schenectady was the birthplace of the General Electric Company and site of the first television station in the U.S. (which is still in operation).
The Catskill Mountains' watershed, one of the largest protected wilderness areas in the U.S., supplies New York City with 90% of its drinking water.
Like the Amana Colonies in Iowa, New York's Oneida was once a utopian religious community that later prospered from the manufacture of consumer products—in this case, flatware.
The original toll on the Brooklyn Bridge (built in 1883) was a nickel per cow.
The Adirondack Park is larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier and Olympic parks combined.
Palmyra, the birthplace of Mormonism, is where an angel is said to have given Joseph Smith the engraved gold plates that became the Book of Mormon.
The first person successfully to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel was schoolteacher Annie Edson Taylor, who claimed she was 43 when she took the plunge in 1901 but was actually 63.
The beauty of the Hudson River valley inspired the 19th-century Hudson River School of landscape painters. Many of these pastoral scenes by Thomas Cole, Asher Durand and others hang in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Visitors can tour the homes or studios of Frederick Church (in Hudson), Thomas Cole (in Catskill) and Jasper Cropsey (in Hastings-on-Hudson).
The Mohawk Hudson, one of the first railroads in the country (its inaugural run was 19 August 1831), ran between Albany and Schenectady, a distance of 11 mi/19 km. It later became part of the New York Central Railroad.
Thousands of people every year visit Santa's Workshop—forerunner to today's theme parks—in the Adirondack Mountain community of North Pole.
