2. Bay Ridge’s Barkaloo Cemetery is the smallest in Brooklyn
Occupying about the same amount of space as an average front yard, the Barkaloo Cemetery in Bay Ridge is the smallest cemetery in Brooklyn. Some say it is the smallest cemetery in New York City. Acting as the resting place for two revolutionary war soldiers — Simon Cortelyou and Harmans Barkaloo — the cemetery honors these men who allegedly fought on the side of the Patriots at the Battle of Brooklyn during the American Revolution. However, Robert I. Porter from the Veteran of Foreign Wars Post 985 launched an initiative that revealed the Cortelyou may have been loyalists.
Dutch immigrants William Harmans Barkaloo purchased the plot of land as a family cemetery. It is the only family cemetery independent from any larger ones in Brooklyn. Although Cortelyou’s great great grandfather was the namesake of Cortelyou Street, he was buried in the cemetery because he married the widow of Jacques Barkaloo.
