When You Go to Trader Joe's in Brooklyn, You Are Actually in Ponkiesberg

Photo: MK Metzz, McBrooklyn

  This sign on Trader Joe's in Cobble Hill Brooklyn, at the corner of Atlantic Ave. and Court Streets, explains that this is close to the site of the Ponkiesberg Fortification, from which George Washington observed the action of a Revolutionary War battle in 1776.

EphemeralNY dug up more in the old Brooklyn Eagle about Ponkiesberg:

Ponkiesburg was a 17th century enclave of Dutch settlers. Ponkiesburg actually translates to "Cobble Hill."

The fortification at Ponkiesberg was a “conical hill which was situated from sixty to eighty feet above the present grade of the streets."

A commenter on EphemeralNY says, "Another story has it that the hill in question was actually one of a number of Native American mounds in the area, all of which were long-ago razed by subsequent developers..."

History buff (and past editor of the Brooklyn Eagle) Fred Halla, on his Grand Republican site, says the Ponkiesberg Fortification was situated on on Red Hook Lane between Fulton Street and Boerum Place.

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