What family originally owned the land that the Twin Towers were built on?

Answer 1

While we know the Empire State Building stands on what originally had been a farm, the early history of the site of the WTC is less bucolic and more aquatic. While it is had to tell from the crudely drawn maps, it appears the general area the Trade Center stood on was within the boundaries of the Dutch colony New Amsterdam. If that being the case, then the original owners were not so much a family but a corporation, The Dutch East India Company. A trading and shipping firm based in Holland, they pretty much owned the land lock stock and barrel and saw the whole settlement as a business operation. The harbor was a perfect port and the Dutch foresaw it would be the primary landing spot for ships traveling back and forth between the Old word and the New. Some of the settlers did own and farm land in the colony, but it does not appear the Trade Center was near such properties. Early maps show windmills on the south western tip of the island with the fort just east, so the general area was one that had always been devoted to commercial and industrial interests. It is also noted as being one of the two places for ships to anchor, the other being near where South Street Seaport is now. As the port traffic grew so did this area and once the English took over in 1700 mills, warehouses and wharfs dominated the neighborhood. As ships grew bigger and needed deeper ports, the piers were extended further into the river and the waterfront was filled in. It was this reclaimed land that the Trade Center was eventually built upon.