Neither obscure, nor a Mason, the third in a line of four Charles Carrolls to settle in Maryland, Mr. Carroll signed the Declaration of Independence and lived a long, long life. He died in 1832 at the ripe old age of 95, after amassing a fortune and overseeing the construction of many estates and buildings in and around Maryland, include one of the main buildings at the Johns Hopkins campus.So, what is Mr. Carroll's connection to Carroll Gardens? Well, turns out...not much. Much like other historically important figures (two good examples from our time would be Malcolm X and President John Fitzgerald Kennedy), locations, schools and streets are named after Charles Carroll, without any direct connection to him.
Since this area of Brooklyn used to be known as South Brooklyn (a name that dates back from the time when this was the southernmost extent of the town of Brooklyn), the name Carroll Gardens is relatively recent, and is really just an amalgamation of the signature gardens designed by Richard Butts and the prominence of Carroll Park. What is funny about this is that most of the other streets in the neighborhood were named after prominent local families or individuals; Sackett, Hoyt, Henry, Clinton, Hicks.
So why is it that we don't live in Sackett Gardens, or Hoyt Gardens? Probably the same reason that this area isn't referred to as "Marbury Towers".
Image Source: University of Maryland Archives
