Where Is Cripplebush, Brooklyn?

Did you know that Brooklyn was originally made up of six seperate towns? Five of them Dutch, and one English. They were called: Bushwick, Flatlands, Flatbush, Brooklyn, New Utrecht, and the English town of Gravesend. The Brooklyn town was made up of Wallabout, Cripplebush, Brooklyn Village or Breukelen, Bedford and Gowanus. Cripplebush?

Today, Ephemeral NY takes a look at the unfortunately-named village, explaining that "Dutch residents of nearby Wallabout were granted a patent in 1654 to incorporate Cripplebush at the intersection of the Cripplebush Road and the Wallabout and Newtown Road or about Flushing and Nostrand Avenues of today. In 1830 Wallabout Village was started, including within its limits the Cripplebush settlement, and still later the section became known as East Brooklyn.”

Cripplebush Road is now long gone, and ForgottenNY points out that it "ran NE from the colonial village of Bedford Corners (at about today's Bedford and Fulton) to Long Island City, passing through the old village of Cripplebush, now a part of Williamsburg."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in Arts & Entertainment on December 21, 2009 3:16 PM

Comments [rss]

Chillinoncentral

It's worth mentioning that there are tours of the Brooklyn neighborhoods offered by a long-time organization of the same name... take a quick peek at their site: http://www.cripplebush.org/

Willie Nillie

There will a bar by this name on Bedford Ave by the end of the year.

NannyState

Heh Heh!

thefacts

Too true.

hunter.blatherer

And here I've been referring to my neighborhood as Jerusalem, Mexico. Now I get to be even more confusing, yay!

CR

Where's Cripplebush? See that chick with the gimpy leg? There 'ya go.

pbjt

Being Dutch, my semi-educated guess would be that Cripplebush is a corruption of the Dutch kreupelbos, meaning an area of low bushes. Kreupel (cripple) in this word has little to nothing to do with being disabled.

NannyState

So what does "Oorecht Kaak" mean?

pbjt

where did you read that? It doesn't ring any Dutch bells.

thefacts

Please don't encourage scatology. The kiddies are off school this week.

HOTCUP

did you know that Brooklyn used to not exist AT ALL???

williamsburg residents slowly beginning to realize that some.. type... of neighborhood change occurred before their individual arrivals? gawsh! how quaint.

williamsburg tag conspicuously not present. A MISTAKE?! i doubt it.