While the eastern region of Long Island was first settled by the English, the western portion of Long Island was settled by the Dutch; until 1664, the jurisdiction of Long Island was split between the Dutch and English, roughly at the present border between
Nassau County and
Suffolk County. The Dutch founded six towns in present-day
Brooklyn beginning in 1645. These included:
Brooklyn,
Gravesend,
Flatlands,
Flatbush,
New Utrecht, and
Bushwick. The Dutch had granted an English settlement in
Hempstead, New York (now in Nassau County) in 1644, but after a boundary dispute, they drove out English settlers from the Oyster Bay area. However, in 1664, the English returned to take over the Dutch colony of
New Netherland, including Long Island.
