The Roll Family Genealogy

The Dutch Boroughs of Brooklyn

The first settlements of [Kings County] were made mostly by the Dutch, about 1625. In 1640, a colony of Mass[achusetts] Quakers, in quest of religious freedom, settled at Gravesend under the protection of the Dutch Government. Long previous to the English conquest of 1664, settlements had been made, mills erected, and churches and schools established in every town in the [county].

The settlers were so exclusively Dutch that the Dutch language and customs prevailed until within a comparatively recent period. Bushwick, Brooklyn, Flatbush, Flatlands, and New Utrecht were known under the English Government as the “Five Dutch Towns;” and they were associated, for certain purposes, until 1690.

The Five Towns also formed an ecclesiastical society, and joined in the support of their minister until the final separation of the American church from the Classis of Holland, in 1772.

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French, J.H., Gazetteer of the State of New York, Syracuse, N.Y.: R. Pearsall Smith, 1860. p.366.

The Dutch Boroughs of Brooklyn
Modern	Established	Dutch	Meaning
Brooklyn	1646	Breukelen	Breukelen, Utrecht, Nederland
Bushwyck	1661	Boswijck	heavy woods
Flatbush	1652	Vlacke Bos, Midwout	wooded plain
Flatlands	1647	Niew Amersfoort	Amersfoort, Utrecht, Nederland
Gravesend	1645	Granuwezande	gray sand
New Utrecht	1657	Nieuw Utrecht	Utrecht, Nederland
I do not know the published source of the map above, if you have the correct citation, please contact me by email at the address below.

Before the Five-Borough City:
The Old Cities, Towns and Villages That Came Together to Form "Greater New York"
If you have ever wondered where Pelham, Flatlands, Newton, or Northfield were, look here. This article, which was originally published in The NYG&B Newsletter, Winter 1998, identifies the old cities and towns that are now part of the five counties of New York City. A number of useful maps are here. You will want to print these pages and place them in a report folder as a permanent reference.