The City of Greater New York was formed in 1898 through the consolidation of a number of municipalities, some of which were themselves previously consolidated from smaller municipalities. This article lists the villages, towns and cities that formerly existed within the current boundaries of New York City, from the time the British assumed control of New Amsterdam in 1664 until the 1898 consolidation. The term "town" as used in the state of New York refers to county divisions often known as townships in other states.
1839 map of the vicinity of today's New York City. Most of the three easternmost towns depicted would become Nassau County instead. Towns in what is now the Bronx are not depicted in this map.
The Bronx was annexed from Westchester CountybyNew York County (and New York City) in 1874 (west of Bronx River) and 1895 (east of it). Those two parts were established as a separate borough upon the consolidation of Greater New York in 1898, but was not legally established as a separate county, Bronx County, until 1914.
West Bronx - annexed to New York City in 1874.
Town of Yonkers (part) - the part that would later be incorporated into the Bronx separated as Kingsbridge in 1873
Town of Kingsbridge - separated from Yonkers in 1873; annexed to New York in 1874
Town of Morrisania - separated from West Farms in 1855; annexed to New York in 1874
Village of Morrisania - incorporated within the Town of Morrisania in 1864[3]
Town of West Farms - separated from Westchester Town in 1846; annexed to New York in 1874
East Bronx - annexed to New York City in 1895.
Town of Eastchester (part) - annexed to New York in 1895
Village of Wakefield - incorporated within the Town of Eastchester in 1889[4]
Town of Pelham (part) - annexed to New York in 1895
Village of Williamsbridge - incorporated within the Town of Westchester in 1888[4]
Kings County
editAn 1859 map of Kings and Queens Counties. At this point, the City of Brooklyn had already annexed Williamsburg and Bushwick, and Long Island City had not yet been formed.
When it was created in 1688 Kings County contained six towns.[5][6] The City of Brooklyn eventually annexed the other towns and cities in Kings County between 1854 and 1896, before itself becoming part of New York City in 1898.[7]
Town of Brooklyn, founded as "Breuckelen" in 1646, Brooklyn was one of the "Six Towns" of Kings County; incorporated as a city in 1834
Village of Brooklyn, incorporated within the town in 1816 (its boundaries roughly match those of present-day neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights),[8] became part of the city of Brooklyn in 1834
City of Brooklyn, the entire town of Brooklyn became a city in 1834.[9]
Town of Bushwick - founded as "Boswijck" in 1661, annexed to Brooklyn in 1854
Town of Flatbush - founded as "Midwout" in 1652; was county seat of Kings County; annexed to Brooklyn in 1894
Town of Flatlands - founded as "Nieuw Amersfoort" in 1647; annexed to Brooklyn in 1896
Town of Gravesend - founded in 1645; annexed to Brooklyn in 1894
Town of New Lots - separated from Flatbush in 1852; annexed to Brooklyn in 1886
Town of New Utrecht - founded in 1657 as Nieuw Utrecht; annexed to Brooklyn in 1894
Town (later a city) of Williamsburgh - separated from Town of Bushwick in 1840; became a city in 1851, annexed to Brooklyn in 1854
All of Flushing, Jamaica, Long Island City, and Newtown, as well as the Rockaway Peninsula portion of Hempstead, consolidated into Greater New York in 1898. The rest of Hempstead and the Towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay split from Queens County to form Nassau County in 1899. Prior to consolidation, Lloyd Neck, which was then part of the Town of Oyster Bay and had earlier been known as Queens Village, seceded from Queens County and became part of the Town of HuntingtoninSuffolk County in 1885.[10][11]
Town of Flushing, chartered 1645 as Vlissingen[12]
Village of Tottenville - incorporated within the Town of Westfield under special conditions on April 28, 1869 & reincorporated under standard village conditions in 1894[21]
^Gibson, Ellen (2004). Gibson's New York Legal Research Guide(PDF). Buffalo: Wm. S. Hein. p. 409. English patents granted [in 1666 and 1678] made New York City coextensive with Manhattan Island, Harlem effectively became a town within the city.
^For example, see Colton, Topographical Map of the City and County of New York, 1836, (athttp://www.davidrumsey.com/) which shows by a thin line "original boundary between New York and Harlem"
^Gibson, Ellen M (1998). Gibson's New York Legal Research Guide. Buffalo: William S. Hein & Co. p. 403: "In 1834, over the objections of New York [City], it [(Brooklyn)] became a city comprising the entire area of the former town of Brooklyn."
