The home of Batman, Gotham City is a dark and Gothic landmark of the Ultimate DC Universe. Its history is as rich as the characters who reside in it.

History

Founding and early years
1634-1776

Founded by English businessman Benjamin Wayne, Gotham City was one of the first settlements in the colony of New Jersey. While Wayne originally founded the settlement with the purpose of harvesting of tobacco, Gotham soon found its power in the fact that it was a port city, and by 1700, Gotham rivaled the American port cities of New York and Charleston. When hostilities arose between the colonies and Great Britain, Michael Wayne, the grandson of Benjamin Wayne and owner of Wayne Shipping, participated in many anti-Britain rallies and open displays of British rebellion. When the delegates of the American colonies were called to Philadelphia for the first Continental Congress in 1775, Michael Wayne, the representative of Gotham, championed alongside John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the American Colonies' right to be free. After the Deceleration of Independence was wrote in the summer of 1776, Wayne was the first delegate from New Jersey to sign.


Revolutionary War to Civil War
1776-1861

As one of the major port cities in America, Gotham City seen its share of naval battles, the most famous being The Battle of Blüdhaven.

Blüdhaven, a small island off Gotham's coast, was seized by the British during the spring of 1779. With the British cannons pointed at Gotham, a small militia lead by Michael Wayne and his son, Jacob, snuck onto the island in the middle of the night on May 4th. While gaining the upper hand on the British, the small force still had to fight a fierce battle. By noon, they had won the battle and Blüdhaven was theirs. But victory came at a costly price: Michael Wayne had been mortally wounded. Wayne lived long enough to see the makeshift American flag be raised above Blüdhaven. Reports say he died with a smile on his face.

After the treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, America became a sovereign nation, free from British rule. In 1785, twenty-five year old Jacob Wayne was sworn in as Gotham's first mayor.

As the late 1700's gave way to a new century, Gotham saw an unimaginable population boom. Already one of America's most populated cities, Gotham was only second to its sister city New York in sheer numbers. One factor to the population boom was immigration, by 1800, hundreds of thousands of Irish and Italian immigrants move from their homeland to Gotham. The Irish mostly lived on the west end of the city in a section dubbed The Narrows, due to the narrow streets and alleys. The Italians made their home on the opposite side of the city, a section known as The East End.

As the early 1800's gave way to the middle of the century, the tension between the Irish and Italians reached a breaking point, culminating in 1855 with the East End Massacre. On the night of June 18th, a Irish woman by the name of Mary O'Callahan was raped and killed by an unknown assailant. The whole Irish community assumed it was an Italian. Over 100 Irish men marched across town and attacked any and every Italian they could get their hands on. While it is unsure how many were killed, at least 120 Italian men, women, and children were murdered. The Irish men who weren't killed in the massacre later hanged for their crimes.

In 1861, the state of South Carolina seceded from the union. As the United States prepared for Civil War, a rather unlikely hero by the name of Horace Wayne would go to war as an unwilling participant, and come home a hero.

The Draft Riots, The Gangs of Gotham, and The Yellow Journalism Empire of Robert Thomas Wayne
1861-1914

The Great War, Prohibition, and The Stock Market Crash
1914-1929

The Great Depression, Second World War, and rise of Wayne Enterprises
1929-1950

Commissioner Robinson, Mayor Finger and President Kennedy, and the death of the Wayne's
1950-1994

Gotham Today
1994-present

Neighborhoods and Surrounding Areas

Notable Residents