"
Castle
Island
, 1645,” depicts one of two farms located in the vicinity of the
present day
Port
of
Albany
in
Albany
,
New York
. At that time there were at least 5 skipper-owned barks in the
community.
Castle
Island was made up of a narrow strip of land about ¼mile in length bounded on the east side by the
Hudson River
and on the west by the Normanskill Creek. Today with years of silting
and fill the island has merged with the shore. The precise location of
this site is not known so the painting orientation is intentionally
vague and can be interpreted in a number of ways. We know that in
general the farms of that time consisted of a house, barn and hay
barrack. It is also known that the Dutch built very few dock structures
and that offloading small craft was often accomplished by beaching
vessels at high tide, moving cargos at low tide and sailing off with the
returning high tide. The
Hudson River
at
Albany
has a tide differential of as much as 6 feet.
