Busy as a Beaver
From the Clyde Fitch Report’s Preservation Diaries By Susan Kathryn Hefti
The American beaver, also known as Castor canadensis, is one of the most industrious animals on the planet. In fact, the innate building and development practices of this furry mammal have proven so prolific that the beaver’s extensive portfolio could even make master builder Robert Moses look like a slacker.
But the beaver’s civic celebrity here — in addition to being the official animal of New York State, the furry fellow waves proudly from both the official New York City flag and its seal — is attributable to much more than just its Type A personality. For it was the beaver’s prized pelt that almost exclusively powered Gotham’s early economic development.
After the insatiable demand of the fur trade had driven these wily herbivores to the brink of extinction in Europe, the 17th century discovery of a relatively untapped resource — the robust beaver population in North America — set the wheels in motion for the Dutch trading post known as New Amsterdam. So essential was the beaver to its fledgling economy that when city leaders selected the design for New Amsterdam’s first coats-of-arms in 1630, Castor canadensis was featured in a leading role. . . more >