From your description, I'd say you are confusing the canal that ran up
modern Broad Street with the one dug in the early 19th c. to drain the Fresh
Water pond (subsequently covered by modern Canal Street). That may explain
why your sources seem contradictory.

Edwin G. Burrows
Department of History
Brooklyn College

> -----Original Message-----
> From: A LISTSERV list for discussions pertaining to New York State
> history. [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Phil Lord
> Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2002 9:50 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: The canal of "Canal Street"
>
>
> I am trying to get focused on this "canal" and am finding
> ambiguous or contradictory data in the literature.
>
> My understanding, thus far, is that is was a dead-end slip, dug
> in the mid-1600s, to allow ships into New Amsterdam from the
> harbor. It did not cut through from river to river, and was
> filled in in the late 1600s.
>
> If anyone has any primary sources or better insights, I would
> appreciate hearing from you.