 It was completed in 1848 to be used as the City Hall of the former City of Brooklyn.In January 1898 the independent City of Brooklyn merged with the City of New York, and Kings County became the Borough of Brooklyn, at which time the building became Brooklyn Borough Hall.In 1834, the year Brooklyn was granted its city charter, the land for Brooklyn's city hall was donated by the Remsen and Pierrepont families, whose names are commemorated in the names of Remsen and Pierrepont Streets in nearby Brooklyn Heights.