According to the Brooklyn Eagle, King Street is named after a German named King who in 1842 lived in a stone house. He "made his fortune as a ragpicker and scavenger, at the numerous dumping heaps and eventual became a property owner." 

The Brooklyn Compendium of Brooklyn's Common Council lists King Street as existing at least by 1835, but does not say what King was being honored. PortSide would like to find additional sources to confirm the story but what is certain is that scavenging from landfill has a long history in Red Hook as noted in a 1887 article about "Growing land, Squatter Sovereigns and Picking Profit."