Indian Deed of Bushwick from a Primary Source
Indian Deed of Bushwick from a Primary Source
Marcy Houses was considered to be in Maspeth in 17th c. Dutch Brooklyn!!
Here’s a map from around that time to help figure out what they’re talking about:
Cripplebush’s left boundary is what’s now Marcy Houses. Mespeatches, called Mipat on that map, was what’s now called Maspeth:
Ft Greene and Clinton Hill were called “Common Land of Gowanis” back then, which is totally different than their identity even a century later. Lucky Mr. Hans Hansen had a monster piece of property that separated Bushwick from Williamsburg completely. Never seen that before.
Hans Hansen’s land is actually what kept Williamsburg a discrete piece of property that stayed in the hands of West India Co until much later. They revoked the leases on that map and Williamsburg was developed completely separately bc of that.
The fact that Bedford was a wedge patent bordering Gowanus’ commons explains some open questions I had. The map is listed as a rough approximation, and the landfill is significantly different now. Oh yeah this’ll put you to sleep alright.
George Washington stayed there 100 years later and it was Bedford Corners by then, not common lands for Gowanis. Looks like the original Bedford patents were east and commons were Crown Heights. A lot of these plantations changed shape significantly with the British, quick.
Actual Bedford was the Franklin Ave A/S station, and it extended west to Classon, which we now call Clinton Hill. That’s Bedford proper. If you concentrate while walking down Fulton from St James, you can see how the village unfolded, still. It was a good spot for Biggie, and GW. ▪️
