If you are looking for my Music Moves Me post, please click here. But I hope you'll stay for this King of posts. (Well, not really, but it starts with K.)
The borough of Brooklyn in the City of New York is also known as Kings County. Fun fact: New York City is composed of five counties: New York County (Manhattan), Bronx County (The Bronx), Kings County (Brooklyn), Queens County (Queens) and Richmond County (Staten Island).
I wonder how many people reading this post today can trace some of their ancestors to Kings County? I can, as per the above Some estimate (and this is not proven) that one in seven Americans, or some 50 million people, can.
If true, it's not surprising. Before its merger with New York City, the city of Brooklyn was the third largest city in the United States, and many immigrants passing through Ellis Island settled there, at least temporarily.
My father's father was one of them, and my grandfather settled there permanently. He was a small business owner, operating a candy store business in the Ocean Hill section of Brooklyn, where my father was born and grew up. along with his several siblings. My grandfather closed his business in the 1950's but I have a vague memory of visiting him there at least once. I still have some family in Brooklyn/Kings County.
When my father's younger sister died, the funeral procession wound its way through Brooklyn to pass by the building where she lived as a child. It was a beautiful tribute. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures of my father's childhood neighborhood, but here are some pictures I took in Brooklyn over the years while visiting family and friends.
A Tree Blooms in Brooklyn, 2013.
Brooklyn brownstones, 2018.
Grave of Louis Comfort Tiffany, a King of decorative arts, Green-Wood cemetery, Brooklyn.
Hopefully, if you ever visit New York City, you have the chance to visit Brooklyn.
K day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme: Beauty of our Land.
I've learnt a little about Brooklyn today. Thank you.
ReplyDelete...Louis Comfort Tiffany, was indeed the King of decorative arts!
ReplyDeleteMy dad was born in Queens, so I don’t have to search too hard! I was born in Sleepy Hollow 🙂
ReplyDeleteMy first trip on an airplane was to NYC. I've been lucky enough to visit several times - we had family in Queens for a decade or so. It's a great city!
ReplyDeleteIt is very likely that some of my European ancestors may have passed through Brooklyn on their way to settle in more interior parts of the country. Thank you for the interesting post.
ReplyDeleteWhat a time it must have been. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed all the pictures.
ReplyDeleteI think my friend visits have been to Queens and Staten Island, but NYC has beauty in all her boroughs.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea the areas of New York had county names!
ReplyDeleteMy Brooklyn roots run deep. My immigrant grandparents settled there, my dad was born and raised there. His home was in Williamsburg. I lived there briefly back in the 1980’s.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea if any family passed through Brooklyn. Probably? I just know they had settled in various parts of the Midwest before making the trek to California. (Both father's and mother's sides were in the Midwest in the generation previous to theirs.)
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