Pre-Urban history

The early history of Brooklyn began with thirteen different tribes occupying Long Island. Native Americans cultivated corn on the productive soil of Boerum Hill and had easy access to the oyster beds of Gowanus Creek to the south. 1 The Canarsies, a peaceful tribe, had their primary village where Brooklyn’s Borough Hall now stands, with minor communities near the Navy Yard, Erie Basin and on the southern fringe of Boerum Hill, near Hoyt and Baltic.2 The trails uniting these settlements followed the present configurations of Fulton and Flatbush, Hoyt and Court Streets.3

The arrival of the Dutch in the early 17th century led to the ultimate downfall of the Canarsies, similarly colonization elsewhere on the East Coast reduced other Algonkian tribes. Frequent attacks from the raiding Iroquois also contributed to the demise of the Canarsies. By the 1830’s, the Canarsies were longer present in South Brooklyn. However, the Dutch population thrived.

Cobble Hill dates back to the 1640’s when the Dutch Governor, Willem Kieft, granted patents for farms north of Red Hook, extending inland from the sea to the Gowanus Valley.4 In 1646, “Breuckelen” was officially recognized as a village, mainly populated with agricultural Dutch farmers and by 1660, there were 31 families residing here. As the population expanded, it maintained it’s Dutch agricultural roots.

Boerum Hill can be traced back to 1645, when Jan Eversen Bout, a Dutch settler, bought the first of three land patents in the area. Jacob Stoffelson and Gerrit Wolfertsen van Couwenhoven took the two other land patents, and the three patents together comprised South Brooklyn in what is today now bounded by Fulton Avenue, Smith and Nevins Streets. The hamlet that grew up in this region, between the Wallabout and Gowanus, was known as “Brueckelen”, after a city in Holland of the same name and with much the same topographical characteristic as its American counterpart.5 The Village of Brooklyn was centered on this area to the north of the study area near the Fulton landing, while the geographic area of Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill remained mainly farmland until the early 19th century development.

On of the first Dutch to settle in the Boerum Hill area was Frederick Lubbertse who took up a grant that included most of Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Red Hook. Other prominent land-owning families including the Bergen and the Van Brunt families followed the Lubbertse family to South Brooklyn.

During the 18th century, the town continued to develop. In March 1704, the long Kings Highway, a portion that is today Fulton Street, was laid out from the Fulton Ferry, and linked the several villages comprising the forthcoming Kings County.

Source: The Web of Language. Accessed April 1, 2016.

1 "From what is about Court to Nevins and between Atlantic and Dean was the Canarsie corn patch.” Butson, T. G. A Short History of Boerum Hill. New York: Long Island University, 1971 2 Ostrander, Stephen M. A history of the city of Brooklyn and Kings County. Brooklyn: by subscription, 1984. pg.11 3 Landmarks Preservation Commission. Cobble Hill Historic District Designation Report. New York City: Landmarks Preservation Commission, 1969. pg. 3 4 “The place names Red Hook, East River and Gowanus—in their Dutch spelling—all appear on the Dutch patents.” Ibid, 3. 5 Ostrander, 60 “Nieuw Amsterdam wants to make Dutch its official language.” "Plan of the City of New York in north America: surveyed in the years 1766 & 1767" Source: Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 1, 2016.

After the Dutch, the British arrived in the late 17th century. Their rule had little effect directly on the built environment, however the rise of important families, such as the Livingstons, who lived just to the west of present-day Boerum Hill, eventually greatly impacted the history of Brooklyn. 1 The Livingstons were among the leaders of the independence movement, and would soon affect the outcome of the new nation.

A 1766 survey of Brooklyn shows a reference to a “Cobleshill,” a very steep conical hill. During the Revolution, General Washington saw his troops defeated in the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776, from the ramparts of the Cobble Hill Fort.2 Later, the British, during their succeeding occupation, severed the top of Cobble Hill so that it couldn’t impede visibility from their headquarters on Brooklyn Heights. The Battle of Long Island resulted in a retreat of the American forces and General George Washington, who had watched the battle from the high ground at Atlantic and Court.3 Washington’s surviving troops luckily escaped to Manhattan later that night.

By the early 19th century, Red Hook and Gowanus to the south were central ports for the city, with land speculation of the study area beginning primarily in the 1830’s.4 These developments brought industry and new residents to South Brooklyn, which eventually spread north to Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill. The establishment of the Fulton Ferry between Brooklyn and Manhattan in 1814 coincided with the incorporation of the “Village of Brooklyn” that same year. (4_Image_ EarlyHistory; Source: Hooker’s New Pocket Plan of the Village of Brooklyn. New York : William Hooker, 1827. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collectio`n.)

In the early decades of the nineteenth century, Brooklyn was a satellite community to the metropolis of Manhattan across the East River. Its development was stimulated by its immediacy to Manhattan, which was now linked by ferry service. There even existed an awareness of competition between Brooklyn residents to surpass or at least emulate their Manhattan neighbors. An article in The Long Island Star in 1815 urged that Brooklyn “must necessarily become a favorite residence for gentlemen of taste and fortune, for merchants and shopkeepers of every description, for artists, artisans, mechanics, laborers and persons of every trade in society.” The city, however, was still primitive in many respects, specifically to infrastructure, sanitation, and safety. “2,000 Brave Patriots Lost in Main Engagements of Battle of Long Island 150 Years Ago Today.” Source:The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. August 27, 1926.)

1 “The British appropriated the estate of Philip Livingston, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and occupied it as a naval hospital. The estate ran south of Joralemon Street, and British sheds and huts for the sick were erected on property later owned by Ralph Patchen, south of the present day Atlantic Avenue within the Cobble Hill Historic District.” Cobble Hill Historic District Designation Report, 3. 2 Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. "Plan of the city of New York in North America : surveyed in the years 1766 & 1767" New York Public Library Digital Collections. 3 “Washington issued an order on July 18, 1776 that two guns fired from Cobble Hill are to be the signal that the enemy had landed on Long Island. Washington, General Putnam and other officers witnessed the disastrous battle of August 27, 1776 from the ramparts of Cobble Hill Fort.” Stiles, Henry Reed. A History of the City of Brooklyn: Including the Old Town and Village of Brooklyn, the Town of Bushwick, and the Village and City of Williamsburgh, Volume 2. Brooklyn: by subscription, 1869. 4 Bernardo, Leonard and Jennifer Weiss. Brooklyn by Name:How the Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks, Bridges and More Got Their Names. New York: NYU Press, 2006. pg. 57.