How can I find out the history of this street name?

June 26, 2020 11:46 AM

I used to live near a street called Rapelye in Brooklyn. Later, reading about my family history, I learned that—coincidentally—the street was named after an ancestor. (The family name was originally Rapareillet, Dutch-ified to Rapelje). The family farm was apparently in a different part of Brooklyn. I'm wondering how I could find out how a tiny street in Carroll Gardens happened to be named after someone in the family.
posted by pinochiette to Society & Culture (4 answers total)

The Rapeljes/Rapelyes weren't just any family, they were a super important and huge family - because of the number of their descendants, author Russell Shorto has called Joris Jansen Rapelye and his wife Catalina "the Adam and Eve" of New Netherland as the number of their descendants has been estimated at about a million.

At first glance, all the sources I'm finding say the street was named for "the family," not necessarily for any specific original settlers from that family. It could have been named centuries after the original settlers died. If we don't find anything, maybe try contacting the Museum of the City of New York.
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:12 PM on June 26, 2020 [3 favorites]

I do suggest the Brooklyn Public Library--however, there is no current access to print and special collection items at this time.
Perhaps chat or call and see if research questions are being answered at this time.
At any rate, there are reference books in their collection such as:

---Brooklyn street names: in the area bounded by Myrtle Avenue, Broadway, Fulton Street and Franklin Avenue.

---East New York place names: a thesis [1965]

As well as street atlases and indexes.
If you can narrow down the time frame, I would also search local newspapers for coverage of the naming of the street or your ancestor in general including obituary.

Other information might also be found in local water department surveys or environmental impact reports on the neighborhood.
posted by calgirl at 12:12 PM on June 26, 2020

Best answer: The book I suggest is Brooklyn by Name: How the Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks, Bridges and More Got Their Names. Looking at my copy, it gives a little more detail about the family than showbiz_liz just did, but not much more.

The street does not appear on the 1827 Hooker's Map, but it is on the 1855 Colton Map, which narrows the window to when the street was laid out and named.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 12:33 PM on June 26, 2020 [2 favorites]

browse the Brooklyn Historical Society website to see if they have any helpful resources
posted by smokyjoe at 4:28 PM on June 26, 2020