GUESTBOOK

Cobble Hill has undergone an incredible transformation. Old time residents of this once working class neighborhood, inhabited by longshoremen, were stunned when a brownstone row house on Congress Street sold for more than a million dollars in 1997. "New" millionaires have discovered this quaint neighborhood, which combines proximity to Wall Street with a quiet life one cannot find in the City. Residents love the one way streets and historic mansions that make them feel as if they are living in another time.

Originally named Ponkiesbergh by the Dutch farmers who settled the cobblestoned area in the 1600's, the neighborhood gained its present name from a variation of the English translation, Cobles Hill.

During the Revolutionary War, the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Court Street was the location of the Cobble Hill Fort, where General George Washington observed the fighting along the Gowanus Creek during the Battle of Long Island.

The neighborhood features stunning Gothic churches, many predating the Civil War. Two of the most remarkable are St. Francis Cabrini Chapel (1852) and St. Peter's Our Lady of Pilar Roman Catholic Church (1859). During your visit to Cobble Hill, watch for two interesting things - the number of former churches and school houses that have been converted to housing.

Smith Street is located on the eastern side of Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens. With its growing status as a restaurant and shopping district, it has become one of Brooklyn's hottest destinations. Smith Street's Bastille Day celebration is an amazing event. Take the time to play Bocci on courts in the middle of the street. With subway stops of the F line stretching the length of the street, it is not to be missed on your visit to New York.

Cobble Hill Park, also known to locals as "Verandah Park", is one of the jewels of the neighborhood. Bordered on the south by Verandah Place, a beautiful one block street with homes straight out of a English storybook, and on the north by Congress Street, featuring some of the most glamorous brownstone homes in the area. The park association sponsors a summer music festival, pot luck dinners, and the annual Halloween Parade is an event not to be missed.

Cobble Hill was the 1854 birthplace of Winston Churchill's mother, Jenny Jerome. Don't be confused by a plaque at 426 Henry Street claiming to be the location of her birth. The woman later known as Lady Randolph Churchill, was born at 197 Amity Street. The plaque marks her uncle's home where her parents lived prior to her birth.

The BQE always served as the western boundary of the neighborhood. With the renewed interest in the waterfront, Columbia Street (on the water side of the BQE) is becoming a hot new destination street with restaurants, art galleries, and new homes appearing at an amazing pace.

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