New-York tribune., 1895-12-29
THE LAST OF FLATLANDS'
TT WILL. BECOME A PART OF BRookLfN
ON WEDNESDAY.

r,,r CITY AND THE COUNTY WILL. THEN BE
corrrMIxors- HISTORY or THE TOWN THAT
Is TO BE THE THIRTY SECOND WARD
rro,,,,ds is on its last legs 1t Is about 10 give
I'D the ghost as separate township o''' ~ a,,,,
ON n more nlusir.ous career as ward oi '''e o"'
OF Brooklyn. ,o,
Ten years ago Kings County consisted o. Brook
lyn and five townships in addition. On Weunesu~. ".
of this week the city and the county VIII pee,
Identical The first OF the FIVE towns 10 DE ap'
was New-Lots which entered the city III iooo' -
v,ous 10 1894 there had been n strong se".,'"e -
EIatbush in favor OF annexation to BROOKLYN pu'
tho politicians holding office In the town "e'r SUI
cjenty powerful to defeat the moVemen" " ~
wear named however, not only was fia'ous" ~
in. but on account of the MoKane wicke'ne'a
Gravesend also added to the CITY Al '"e 80
time an act was passed providing for the ahhena-
ton of New-IJtrecht on the July following. in's
left Flatlands alone out In the coId' put as IL "a
,bouqht hest 10 maintain the separate county gov
ernment some time longer provision was H'au' i''
its coming into the city on January J. Ie'o' ,
FlatIands will be the Thirty-second Ward WIN
this addition Brooklyn will yer sixty-n'e anu
three-ouar,er square miles, or considerably more
than twice its area before Flatbush. GraVeseno
New-Utrecht and Flatlands were ADDED Inc ar"
OF the first twenty-eight wards Is about twenty .no
and a half square miles. The new wards auu ii,ole
comprse fifty-fve per cent OF its entire ter'i'o'
bu, in poInt OF population they are insignificant COM
nared with the rest OF the city. Flatiahds mas
only about 5000 people. and the popuiaton Vi az
the new wards will not greatly exceed 3ooo' while
the CITY as a. whole cannot have less tnah l'pV'Vw
people Hence Brooklyn has plenty OF rooih "
grow within It's enlarged boundaries.
ONCE 1T WAS AMERsFOoRT.
The history Of Flatlands has been in the main
striking episodes, and the sober sense OF the iaiie
folk has saved 1t from any such disgrace as tnal
which overlook It's neghbor Gravesehd' "nei, '.o
career OF McKane eliminated. Inc H'"e "
lands or Flatland, originally appheo u 'i'o not
country eastward from the ridge on which prospect
Park Is situated, all the way from the Nario"' "
Hampstead Its origin and meaning are pam upon
its face In 1917 Governor Stuyvesant, accoruihs
TO the ancient records. spoke or tne fia'iaHu'
The Dutch name for the region however, was 1."
Amersfoort, or Amersfoordt. after cHy Oh Una,
name In Utrecht. and for considerable periou
this name appears TO have Deeh useu Ai'ei
bly, with Flatlands.
II is probable that the first settlements here were
made as early 1924 In 16is mention was mace oi
Breukelen and Amersfoort as Dutch settlements
and there Is little doubt that AmersIoort was INC
earliest settlement on Long Island. The hrst re-
corded purchase of land there took place in 1885,
the land being purchased from the Indians ana
the title being subsequently confirmed by a charteE
granted by tho Governor OF New-Amsterdam.
EarIy in the Revolution when the British landed
at Gravesend the troops overran Flatianns ,nber dI
quarered themselves upon the people ne',pe ,%Gs
OF interesting Incidents that occurred curing 'ns s
ss Of the Young woman who refused allow the
soldiers to make away with her ne" ooille, ,nr ,r
ns the Sa1s te Sno np to her
Fatands was recognized by 1he in Suare The Hrst
century OF its existence Il made remarSape rsaro
record in that It had only ten Supervisors For
nine Years another for fourteen years another for
twenty and the present & SuperysUr 'IHn pr
thirty-two years all told
THE ANCIENT DUTCH CHURCH
An interesting part OF the history OF Flatiands
has been the history Of the Dutch Church "hch
was one of the earliest established IN America.
The churches of Flatbush and Flatands were or
ganized on the day. February 3, 1904, but
Flatlands had no church building until nine years
later In the year named. however It contributed
s4S toward the building OF the Flatbush church;
building in 1853 the people called to worship
by until 1856 when bell was & purohiIaases gS,iIasTs
were paid for "a rope for the bell" The church
built in 1853 49, w repaired anS I'm M it
used I'll 1874 The ediice then erected n, MAS nm IN
1895 when stove was provided In the olden time
one ON the iDS green ssG' in front church ,.
Fata:lds is still mainly farming region idnr Whme
eble extent There are only two three villages IN
It, the principal being F'aands and Canarse; ;
Each OF these has postofice. and there Is third
nostoHice Iongwood near South Greenfield, which
Is in the town OF Gravesend; Fatands includes "a
humber of Islands, OF which the best known are
Bergen Island now called Bergen Beach, and Bar
rem Island. on the extreme southern END or the
town. which ia devoted to fat-rendering and fer
tilizers and may demand the early attention OF the
Rrooklyn Health Commissioner in the Interest OF
the public nostrils At the southern terminus of
Flat6ush-ave. Is a settlement known by the name
OF Hemlock city. . ,,,, 49,.
Win It's annexation to the city 1t Is likely that
a good part of the town will soon be converted
into building lots. Land is already so valuable that
farming is no longer profitable. The conversion of
the new ward into true suburb VIII be acce leraed
by the extension 10 II OF means OF travel The
trolley road now reaching Flatands village Will 0e
carried next year TO Bergen Beach and 1t II Is eS-
pected that the road in Sumner and Troy aVes
viii be extended to the same point. This year a
trolley line has been opened to Canarse and fare
OF five cents established for the whole trip. Another
attractive feature Of the newest ward OF Brooklyn
will be the watersde park that is TO be iaid out
in Canarsie popular playground