Before settlers arrived, the land that would become Gotham was:
Dense wetlands, rivers, and rocky coastlines
Dense with fog, harsh winters, and unpredictable storms
Feared by indigenous tribes for its “hollow earth” sounds — echoes from natural cave systems and underground chambers
Home to early cave networks later exploited by both the Waynes and the Court of Owls
This region was described as “a place where the earth whispers” — a fitting omen.
Three influential families arrive during early colonial expansion:
Physicians, architects, and civic-minded nobles
Advocated for structured settlements, public health, and long-term city planning
Established some of the first stone foundations and medical centers
Military lineage
Established fortifications, watchtowers, and local governance
Their early militia forms the emotional precursor to the modern GCPD
Traders and financiers
Controlled shipping, supply chains, taxation, and early “political favors”
Their corruption roots itself early into Gotham’s political DNA
These families cooperate publicly, but privately build rival power structures.
Though not officially documented, Gotham’s oldest secret society predates the city itself.
Manipulating land claims
Financing construction projects to hide their Talon tombs
Selecting mayors, sheriffs, judges behind the scenes
Silencing settlers opposed to their control through disappearances
Their influence becomes deeply embedded in Gotham’s architecture.
Many early stone buildings still hide labyrinth tunnels and owl motifs unnoticed by the public.
The Court’s proverb:
“Beware the Court of Owls that watches all the time…”
The settlement expands due to:
Rich fishing waters
High-value timber
Trade routes along the Sprang and Finger Rivers
Key developments:
The first official district — narrow streets, crowded markets, and the earliest brick housing.
Cobblepot wealth grows enormously here.
Several built atop ancient cave networks, later used for smuggling and assassinations.
Precursor to Gotham’s obsession with law, order, and corruption.
By 1700, Gotham is known for:
Harsh justice
Eccentric citizens
Rumors of disappearances
Wealth inequality beginning early
The DNA of Gotham’s future is set.
Gotham transitions from colony to industrial powerhouse.
Coal deposits
Shipbuilding
Wayne-funded engineering projects
Cobblepot-controlled supply lines
Immigrant labor waves
The first railroad tunnels under the future Bowery
Expansion of the Tricorner docks
Foundations of Amusement Mile as a leisure district for sailors
Bridge construction linking early islands and peninsulas
Creation of large worker tenements in the Narrows area
Gotham becomes a place of opportunity, but also misery.
Something begins happening uniquely in Gotham:
Murder rates climb inexplicably.
Corruption spreads through early government offices.
Brutal working conditions
Severe class divide
Exploitation by Cobblepot-backed bosses
Poor mental health (“Gotham Fever”)
Rumored influence of the Court’s early experiments and psychological terror tactics
Layers of tunnels and abandoned projects create a literal underworld beneath the city.
By 1830, Gotham is already considered one of America’s darkest, most dangerous places.
Alan Wayne — one of Bruce’s ancestors — spearheads Gotham’s transformation into a modern metropolis.
Sewage systems
Hospital expansions
Rail systems
Sanctioned orphanages
Massive civic buildings
He unknowingly builds many structures aligned with Court of Owls architecture, which later haunts his family’s legacy.
Alan Wayne dies under mysterious circumstances — historically recorded as madness and drowning, but likely assassination.
This marks the beginning of the Wayne–Court conflict that silently echoes into Bruce’s era.
The Founding Era establishes:
Gotham was never normal
Corruption predates Batman
The Court of Owls shaped the city before the Waynes
Wealth and crime were intertwined from day one
The city itself is a character: ancient, layered, cursed, and hungry
Gotham is not a city where crime “happened.”
Gotham is a city built for crime.