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From: <>
Subject: Breuckelen, Kings County & Brooklyn
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 10:10:30 EST

Sharon Carberry & Brooklyn-Rooters, etc.,

re: Breuckelen, Kings County & Brooklyn

Following up on Sharon Carberry's e-Mail, "For those who have not used the
city directory microfiche, please remember the dates when various
municipalities joined Brooklyn as a political jurisdiction.", the following
may be of some assistance in understanding exactly when the dofferent parts of
Kings county became part of the city of Brooklyn.

A quick history of Brooklyn—

In 1646, the Village of Breuckelen was authorized by the Dutch West India
Company and became the first municipality in what is now New York State (the
predecessors of the Cities of Albany and New York were numbers two and three,
respectively).

In 1683, almost 20 years after the English kicked out the Dutch (1664), the
General Assembly of Freeholders reorganized the governmental structure in all
of the province of New York into 12 counties, each of which was sub-divided
into towns.

Brooklyn was one of the original six towns of Kings County, an original county
when the county/town system was established in 1683.

(Other local area original counties were New York, Richmond, Queens,
Westchester and Suffolk. The Bronx was part of Westchester County until 1873,
when the western Bronx was annexed by New York City/County, and 1895, when the
eastern Bronx was annexed as well. The eastern two-thirds of Queens County
seceded and became Nassau County in 1899, making Nassau the youngest county in
New York State, although the Bronx "paper" county was established in 1914 when
the Bronx "seceded" from New York County.)

The next 2 pages include some additional information about important dates for
all the cities, towns and villages that were part of the history of what we
now refer to as "Brooklyn".

I hope that this information is helpful to you.

Sincerely,

Walter Greenspan

P.S. The Town of Brooklyn did not have that large a population in 1790, the
year of the first federal census. The Town of Oyster Bay, then in Queens
County, had a larger population than did Brooklyn that year.

Ends page 1

Begins page 2

History of Breuckelen, Kings County & Brooklyn

Village of Breuckelen (1646) preceded City of Nieuw Amsterdam (1653) by some 7
years.

Brooklyn/Kings County has 2 names because it took some 200 years for Brooklyn
to annex the other parts of Kings County.

When the City of Brooklyn annexed the City of Williamsburgh and the Town of
Bushwick, this area was then known as the eastern district of the City of
Brooklyn and Williamsburgh lost its final "h".

The streets in Brooklyn do not line up because each of the 2 cities and 6
towns in Kings County were independent municipalities and purposely decided to
create street grids with different naming systems that did not line up with
the adjoining city or town. The Town of Gravesend was the only town where the
streets run long north-to-south, all other cities and towns ran their streets
long west-to-east. Gravesend was the only English town, all the others were
Dutch.

South Brooklyn is north of southern Brooklyn because until 1894 the Red Hook
area (South Brooklyn) was the southernmost part of the City of Brooklyn.

Bay Ridge was originally called "Yellow Hook" until a yellow fever epidemic
struck and the name was changed.

Suggested reading:

The Brooklyn Almanac by Margaret Latimer is a history of Kings County/City of
Brooklyn/Borough of Brooklyn. Some problems with geography, but a good
resource.

Ms. Latimer also wrote Two Cities that describes month-by-month life in New
York City (Manhattan and the western Bronx) and in the City of Brooklyn (the
northern-third of Kings County) in 1883, the year the Brooklyn bridge was
built.

Ends page 2

Begins page 3

Key Dates in the History of Kings County (Brooklyn)

1646
Village of Breuckelen granted charter by the Dutch West India Company.

1683
Kings County and 6 towns created: Brooklyn, Bushwick, Flatbush, Flatlands,
Gravesend and New Utrecht.

1816
Village of Brooklyn incorporated within Town of Brooklyn.

1827
Village of Williamsburgh incorporated within Town of Bushwick.

1834
Town of Brooklyn (including Village of Brooklyn) becomes City of Brooklyn.
Kings County now includes 1 city (Brooklyn) and 5 towns (Bushwick, Flatbush,
Flatlands, Gravesend and New Utrecht).

1851
Village of Williamsburgh secedes from Town of Bushwick and becomes City of
Williamsburgh. Kings County now includes 2 cities (Brooklyn and
Williamsburgh) and 5 towns (Bushwick, Flatbush, Flatlands, Gravesend and New
Utrecht).

1852
Town of New Lots secedes from Town of Flatbush. Kings County consists of 2
cities (Brooklyn and Williamsburgh) and 6 towns (Bushwick, Flatbush,
Flatlands, Gravesend, New Lots and New Utrecht).

1854
City of Williamsburgh and Town of Bushwick consolidated into City of Brooklyn.
Kings County now 1 city (Brooklyn) and 5 towns (Flatbush, Flatlands,
Gravesend, New Lots and New Utrecht).

1886
Town of New Lots annexed into City of Brooklyn. Kings County now 1 city
(Brooklyn) and 4 towns (Flatbush, Flatlands, Gravesend and New Utrecht).

1894
Towns of Flatbush, Gravesend and New Utrecht annexed into City of Brooklyn.
Kings County now 1 city (Brooklyn) and 1 town (Flatlands).

1896
Town of Flatlands annexed into City of Brooklyn. Kings County and City of
Brooklyn become coterminous.

Ends page 3

I hope the following is useful or, at least, interesting.

Walter Greenspan

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