Two-page manuscript land deed dated April 15, 1667, recording the sale by the City of New York City to Jan Smedes of “a piece of land…located on High Street, just behind City Hall.” The purchase price is recorded as 125 guilders, with the transaction executed “in New York on the Island of Manhattan.” Signed by Nicholas Bayard, Alderman.
Nicholas Bayard (c. 1644–1707/1709) was a prominent colonial official in New York, later serving as Mayor from 1685 to 1686. He was the nephew of Peter Stuyvesant and a leading member of the influential Bayard family, which remained prominent in New York political and commercial life into the 20th century. Jan Smedes, born circa 1640, was an active businessman in colonial New York.
The land conveyed corresponds to a historically significant parcel on present-day Broad Street, now identified with approximately Section 1, Lot 11, and today associated with 85 Broad Street in Manhattan’s Financial District. This site traces its origins to Dutch New Amsterdam and was home to the Stadt Huys (Town Hall) in the 17th century. Following the English takeover, Governor Francis Lovelace operated a tavern adjacent to the site between 1670 and 1706, which also functioned as an interim city hall.
Broad Street itself originated as the Broad Canal of New Amsterdam, later filled in and transformed into one of Manhattan’s principal north–south thoroughfares, running from South Street to Wall Street. The present 30-story building at 85 Broad Street was constructed in 1983 and long served as the headquarters of Goldman Sachs.
An exceptionally early and well-documented New York City land deed, directly tied to the civic, commercial, and governmental development of Manhattan during the critical post-Dutch transition period.