Ponkiesbergh's Pavement: How Cobble Hill Got Its Name

Brownstoner takes on Brooklyn history in Nabe Names, a series of briefs on the origins and surprising stories of neighborhood nomenclature.

Cobble Hill is one of Brooklyn’s smaller, quainter enclaves, but it’s packed with history. The area’s stunning collection of well-preserved 19th-century homes won it a historic district designation, and its quintessential brownstone-belt vibe has won it a reputation as one of Brooklyn’s most desirable residential areas.

While today cobblestones are scarce in the neighborhood — Tiffany Place remains the nabe’s only full block paved in them — they were once abundant. The stones, formerly ships’ ballasts, used to pave the area, including one particular hill at the intersection of Court Street, Pacific Street and Atlantic Avenue.

The incline was the location of Cobble Hill Fort during the Revolutionary War, where George Washington’s troops lost to the British in the Battle of Brooklyn. The Dutch settlers knew the area as Ponkiesbergh, a direct translation of Cobble Hill into Dutch.

After decades of being known only as the conglomerative South Brooklyn area, activists brought the Cobble Hill title back in the mid 20th century, bringing a second life to the name that has continued on to the present.

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