Sunset Park Brooklyn

Early development

Though modern-day Brooklyn is coextensive with Kings County, this was not always the case. South Brooklyn, an area in central Kings County extending to the former Brooklyn city line near Green-Wood Cemetery’s southern border, was originally settled by the Canarsee, one of several indigenous Lenape peoples who farmed and hunted on the land. The Canarsee had several routes that crossed Brooklyn, including a path from Fulton Ferry along the East River that extended southward to Gowanus Creek, South Brooklyn (present-day Sunset Park), and Bay Ridge. The Canarsee traded with other indigenous peoples and, by the early 17th century, also with Dutch and English settlers.

The first European settlement occurred in 1636 when Willem Adriaenszen Bennett and Jacques Bentyn purchased 936 acres (379 ha) between 28th and 60th Streets, in what is now Sunset Park. However, after the land was purchased in the 1640s by Dutch settlers who laid out their farms along the waterfront, the Canarsee were soon displaced and had left Brooklyn by the 18th century. The area comprising modern Sunset Park was divided between two Dutch towns: Brooklyn to the northwest and New Utrecht to the southeast, separated by a boundary that ran diagonally from Seventh Avenue/60th Street to Ninth Avenue/37th Street. The Dutch created long, narrow farms in the area. When New Netherland was conveyed to the English in 1664, the latter improved the waterfront pathway in the town of Brooklyn as part of a Gowanus (Coast) Road, which ran southwest to an east-west trail called Martense’s Lane, then southward to the boundary with New Utrecht. These roads would be used during the American Revolutionary War in the Battle of Long Island.

During the American Revolution, the area was mostly owned by the descendants of Hans Hansen Bergen, an early immigrant from Norway. They owned two homesteads, the DeHart-Bergen House close to 37th Street and the Johannes Bergen House around 55th Street; the former was used by the British during the Revolution. Additionally, the Bergens owned several slaves, as indicated in the 1800 United States Census, where 19 slaves and 8 free non-whites were recorded living at the two Bergen houses. After New York abolished slavery in 1827, there were 55 African Americans living in the area. Similar to Dutch farms, the farms in modern Sunset Park occupied long, narrow plots.

19th century

Early growth and transit hub

Brooklyn became urbanized in the 19th century, with many people choosing to live in Brooklyn and commute to Manhattan, leading to residential development spreading outward from Brooklyn Heights. Present-day Sunset Park, several miles away from Brooklyn Heights, was still primarily agricultural in the 1830s and remained so until the mid-19th century. Among the few houses in the region was Kent Castle, a Gothic Revival villa on present-day 59th Street.

After Brooklyn was incorporated as a city in 1834, the Commissioners’ Plan of 1839 was devised, extending a street plan to South Brooklyn. What would become Sunset Park was incorporated into the Eighth Ward of the city of Brooklyn, which at the time was the city’s least populous ward. Sunset Park did not have its own name until the 20th century; the neighborhoods in southern Brooklyn, including Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, and Bath Beach, were collectively referred to as a single area. The first major development in the region was Green-Wood Cemetery, which opened in 1840 near the boundary of South Brooklyn and Bay Ridge and quickly became a popular tourist attraction. By 1870, the first frame row houses were constructed in the Eighth Ward, ultimately replacing the detached wooden houses in the area.

Transit to South Brooklyn began with the establishment of a ferry service to the cemetery in 1846. The Brooklyn City Railroad, founded in 1853, started offering stagecoach service from Fulton Ferry to destinations such as Bay Ridge. Subsequently, several excursion railroads were built from South Brooklyn to the resort areas of Coney Island, Brighton Beach, and Manhattan Beach. These included the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Rail Road, the New York, Bay Ridge and Jamaica Railroad, and the New York and Sea Beach Railroad. A ferry pier and railroad terminal, popular as a transfer point for those traveling to Coney Island, was built in the 1870s. The 39th Street Ferry started traveling to the Battery Maritime Building in Manhattan in 1887, followed two years later by the opening of the Fifth Avenue elevated train line in the neighborhood. Following the establishment of the ferry, the Eighth Ward finally became a desirable place to live.