Brooklyn Timeline: Red Hook
1636: Roode Hoek
Red Hook was settled by the Dutch in 1636 and was one of the original settlements in the Dutch colony of Breukelen. The region was named Roode Hoek—which means “Red Point” in Dutch—because of the red soil and the fact that a part of Red Hook stuck out in a point into New York Harbor. There’s no “hook” anywhere, no matter how much Hoek seems like it would translate to “hook”, it doesn’t. Modern day Red Hook is also home to a street called Rapelye Street, which was named after one of New Amsterdam’s oldest families. In fact, Sarah Rapelje is believed to have been the first European child to be born in New Amsterdam. Her family would settle on Long Island and she would give birth to fifteen children, fourteen of whom survived (IMPRESSIVE), and is believed to be the ancestor of over a million people alive today, which, wow. Included among her direct descendants was actor Humphrey Bogart. Everyone should go out right now and watch “The Maltese Falcon.” And read the book. Dashiell Hammett, though not a descendant of Sarah Rapelye (that I know of) is awesome.
