Colen Donck, Dutch colonial settlement in Westchester County, United States.
Colen Donck was a Dutch colonial settlement along the Hudson River in Westchester County that spread across roughly 24,000 acres of land. The property included forests and farmland that covered what are now the Bronx and Yonkers areas.
Adriaen van der Donck received a land grant from Willem Kieft in 1646 as recognition for his work mediating between Dutch settlers and indigenous peoples. This grant marked the beginning of European control over the territory and its transformation into a commercial enterprise.
The territory was originally called Kiskiskeck when indigenous people inhabited it, and Dutch rule brought new governance structures to the area. Walking through the region today, you can sense how colonial settlement fundamentally altered the landscape and its inhabitants' way of life.
The settlement had a saw mill on the Neperan River and a grain mill for processing corn grown on fields previously worked by indigenous peoples. These operations show how the colony built upon existing agricultural systems in the region.
The name Yonkers comes from the period after van der Donck's management, when locals called the area DeYounker's Land based on how they pronounced his name. This linguistic legacy from the colonial period still defines the city's identity today.
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