New Amsterdam

New Amsterdam (Nieuw Amsterdam in Dutch), located in the East Berbice-Corentyne Region, 62 miles from the capital, Georgetown, is one of the largest towns in Guyana. It is located four miles upriver from the Atlantic Ocean mouth of the Berbice River, on its eastern bank, immediately south of the Canje River (6°15′N, 57°31′W). New Amsterdam's population is approximately 33,000.

New Amsterdam has its origins in a village which grew up alongside Fort Nassau in the 1730s and 1740s. Before the 1763 uprising it comprised a Court of Policy building, a warehouse, an inn, two smithies, a bakery, a Lutheran church and a number of houses, among other buildings. Built in 1740 by the Dutch, New Amsterdam was first named Fort Sint Andries. It was made seat of the Dutch colonial government in 1790. In 1803 it was taken over by the British.

The little township was a pioneer in several by-laws; it boasted the first sanitation regulations on record (no privies near the public path, drains to be dug and places kept weeded) and the first price controls in the only hostelry in town. The serious imbibers in this society would be happy to learn that many of these applied to alcoholic beverages, including madeira, genever (Dutch gin), kilthum (the forerunner of rum) and even a drink made by the Amerindians. Of course, alcohol was not considered an indulgence in those days, but rather a necessity, since it was erroneously believed that it warded off diseases like malaria, which it was claimed came from exposure to 'miasmas'.

The New Amsterdam Public Hospital, is outstanding example of timber architecture, and one of the two surviving architectural masterpieces designed by Cesar Castellani, an architect employed in the Public Works Department of British Guiana. Construction commenced in late 1881 with funds provided to the Public Works Department by the colonial administration. The hospital was built in stages, the central pavilion being completed in 1881 and the hospital was occupied in 1885.

Cesar Castellani designed other buildings in Guyana, includes, Brickdam Cathedral; Castellani House; the Brickdam Police Station.