Brooklyn Timeline: Brooklyn Heights
- image from guttenberg.com
- A view of New York from Brooklyn Heights 1679
The Dutch Come to Ihpetonga
Ihpetonga is a Native American word meaning “high, sandy bank” and was the name bestowed upon the area that would someday be called Brooklyn Heights. This bit of land, rising up from the water into bluffs that slope gently downward, opening out into the rest of Long Island, was reportedly bought by the Dutch from the Canarsie Indians for the price of “eight ‘fathoms’ of duffle cloth, eight of wampum, 12 kettles and an assortment of 25 tools.” The land was renamed Breukelen after a Dutch town, and was quickly appropriated for farm use due to its rich and fertile soil. A ferry system to Manhattan was established and Breukelen quickly became the first suburb of New York. However, since there were no bridges and/or tunnels in those days, the contemptuous moniker “bridge-and-tunnelers” would have to wait a couple of centuries before being coined. No word on how many of these first Dutch suburbanites immediately started having babies once they settled into Breukelen, but you can bet they didn’t wait long. People have always come to Brooklyn to have babies, and they always will.