Welcome to 400+ years of Red Hook! Inclusion is a theme in this e-museum that memorializes forgotten, overlooked and erased histories. It’s a resource for locals, tourists, history buffs, urban-planners, educators, students, flaneurs. It tells NYC’s maritime story in microcosm. Explore:
- our waterfront past & present
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contemporary Red Hook retail, arts, non-profits, schools, recreation, transit
- flood prep & resiliency info
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Featured Item
Red Hook Building Company, 1838
The Red Hook Building Company was the brainchild of Col. Daniel Richards, a man who grew up in upstate New York. When the Erie Canal opened in 1825 and had a powerful economic effect, Richards was…Select text from the Proposal. (A pdf of the full original is linked below)
"The advantages of Brooklyn as a place of residence, as well as for commercial purposes - in view of its proximity to the…
A Cruise in the Erie Basin, by Don C. Seitz, 1892
A Cruise in the Erie Basin, an article by Don C. Seitz, and published in Frank Leslie's magazinesin 1892, relates the story of Red Hook's Erie Basin.
It grew from a scene with “hardly a building to…
What is Affordable Anyhow, May 2025
The issue of affordable housing is always an issue in the greater Red Hook, Brooklyn area, as it is elsewhere, but it is particularly relevant at the time of this writing (Spring 2025) when the NYC…
There are plans (as of this writing in 2025) to rebuild the current federally-subsidized Red Hook Gardens; 31 two-family townhouses, on and around Visitation Place. The new buildings promise that…
Random Items
The Signal Success of Martha Coston, 1826-1904
“So little opportunity have women had hitherto for demonstrating their capability for business, that it can only be indicated by the success of some particular woman in some unusual and exceptional…
Hospital Ship Solace Placed In Commission, 1941
World War II had started but the United States had not yet entered the fight when it launched the hospital ship SOLACE in August 1941. The ship, formerly the liner IRIQUOIS, was converted to a…●
Text of Article: "Hospital Ship Solace Placed in Commission," Brooklyn Eagle, August 10, 1941
With a grim warning that the enemy in the past has fired on ships flying the Red Cross, the Navy's new…
Colonies of Cozy Canal Boats Cluster for Winter In Quiet, Land-Locked Havens of Brooklyn Basins, 1911
This article from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sunday, March 12, 1911, recounts the winter-time lives of Erie Canal barge families who winter in Erie Basin.
Colonies of Cozy Canal Boats Cluster for Winter
City of Inland Navigators Prepares for Annual Exodus.
COMMUNITY BOASTS OF UNIQUE FEATURES
Children Enjoy Sports on Docks After School Hours.
With…
Cowhey Marine Hardware, c. 1862 - 2006
Cowhey Marine Hardware operated in Red Hook for about 150 years. The rump remains of the business was at 440 Van Brunt Street, the northwest corner of Van Brunt and Beard Street, and closed in 2005.…