Historical Chronology, 1642 - 2000
The Early Years
Map of the area, 1767
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1642: Cornelius Dircksen of New York
begins a ferry service to Breuckelen. (Dircksen owned a small
inn near Peck's Station on the New York East River Shore)
1654: Governor Stuyvesant enacts the
first ordinance controlling the ferry service.
1655: Egbert Van Borsum builds the first
ferry-house tavern (a wooden structure) at foot of the road
to the ferry.
1699: New York Corporation contracts
for a stone ferry-house and tavern, to replace wooden structure,
completed in 1700.
1704: The ferry road is officially laid
out and becomes known as the "Road to the Ferry"
and the "Road to Jamaica."
1748: Stone ferry-house and tavern is
burned in protest by Brookland citizens who resent New York
Corporation's ownership of Brookland property and shoreline.
1765-67:A map of Brookland Ferry show
the East River Shoreline at about midpoint between the present
Front and Water Streets. Lands along the shoreline are owned
by Mr. Rapailie.
1776: On the night of the 26th-27th
August 1776, George Washington leads the American Army's retreat
across the East River from the site of the present Empire-Fulton
Ferry State Park.
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Olympia 1788
In the 1780s,
landowners Joshua Sands, Comfort Sands and John Jackson
began to develop the new city of "Olympia"
in the area between Fulton Ferry Landing and today's
Navy Yard. The following excerpt describes the virtues
of the location:
"Olympia is extremely
well calculated for a city; on a point of land which
presents its front up the East River, surrounded almost
with water, the conveniences are almost manifest. A
considerable country in the rear affords the easy attainment
of produce. A pure and salubrious atmosphere, excellent
spring water, and good society, are among a host of
other desirable advantages. As regards health in particular,
it is situated on the natural soil -- no noxious
vapors, generated by exhalations from dock-logs, water
and filth sunk a century under its foundations are raised
here."
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1784: The lands of Rapailie, lying between
the Fulton Ferry and Wallabout Bay, are confiscated by the
City Corporation and sold to the Sands Brothers.
1788: Streets in the Fulton Ferry area
are laid out by the Sands Brothers and a later partner named
Jackson. They name the place "Olympia."
1795: A permit is given to William Furman
and Theodosius Hunt to establish a ferry at the foot of present
Main Street (at the junction of Main and the present Water
Street) which became known as the "New Ferry" and
"Teamboat Ferry," and later the "Catherine
Street Ferry" (after the landing point in Manhattan).
The name of the road to this ferry, originally "New Ferry
Road," was later changed to Main Street.
1795: The First Landfill: A map of Brooklyn
in 1796 shows that landfill operations east of the ferry landing
had created Water Street by this time.
1811: On November 22, Joshua Sands and
his wife, Ann, transfer property to Thomas Carpenter and mark
Fowler in the vicinity of the future Empire Stores. The record
shows the existence (at least on paper) of Plymouth, Main,
and Water Streets.
1814: Robert Fulton's steam-propelled
ferry on the new Fulton Ferry line to New York is introduced.
The "Road to the Ferry" is renamed Fulton Street
in honor of the inventor.
1815: Village of Brooklyn is incorporated.
The Second Landfill: The area of the Empire Stores, between
Water and Plymouth Streets, has been landfilled by this time.
The landfill could possibly date back to c. 1811.
1835: Fulton Street and Water Street
are widened.
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