The “Brooklyn Basin” is another one of those big plans for Red Hook that did not happen . The plan appeared on maps as if it was built - with no indication of its aspirational status - leading people in the 21 st century to think...
Historic Maps - A selection of images
A collection of historic maps and images of Red Hook, Brooklyn
Eymund Diegel map: Red Hook streams ponds place names
2016 draft map created by Eymund Diegel, based on his research describing Red Hook streams, ponds, tide mills up to around 1850. The base map is the Bernard Ratzer's 1766 survey. Captions are derived from Stile's comprehensive...
Ballast from overseas becomes Red Hook landfill & introduces foreign seeds, 1879-1880
Cargo ships are designed to carry heavy weights, and without it they ride too high in the water and are unstable. Ships not laden with enough goods would take on ballast, often in the form of sand or gravel to allow them to safely sail. ...
The sediments of Erie Basin, 1868
In 1868, engineer G. B. Brainerd, reported in The American Naturalist on the sedimentary layers under the Erie Basin. He found beneath 10 feet of water at low tide: 1. Two feet of mud, the ordinary sediment of the bay 2. One foot of yellow sand 3....
Eymund Diegel map: 1766 Ratzer Survey map overlaid with modern land outlines, plus historical info, 2014.
You can see Red Hook and Gowanus shoreline changes in this illustration of two maps overlaid, the 1766 Ratzer map and one by Eymund Deigel using a 2004 NYC map. Bernard Ratzer was a military surveyor who mapped the Gowanus marshes...
1844 Hassler Coastal survey of Staten Island and Gowanus with oyster mudflats (cropped to Gowanus Bay)
1844 Coastal Survey. Red Hook's watery past has a bearing on how this place floods in current times. This map shows the topography at the end of Red Hook's tide mill pond era, meaning that much of what is today called Red Hook is still water. Note...
Eymund Diegel map: Gowanus Watershed With 1766 Marshes and 2013 Sandy Flood Line
Sandy essentially flooded anyone who built on the former tidal marshes. _ Map Explanation by mapmaker Eymund Diegel: Red lines are the upland Sandy flood lines (minus part the Fort Defiance Island area which is missing dry non flood area during...
Bay House: bar, boat rental and tackle shop. 1851
In the 1850s, David P. Wild was the proprietor of the Bay House. He advertised that the bar was well supplied with wines, brandies, ales and cigars of the very best brands. He also outfitted fishermen with sail and row boats, tackle and bait. The...
Buttermilk Channel: Edwin Williams's 1832 description of its history
As early as the 1800s, chroniclers have had differing accounts as to whether or not the Buttermilk Channel separating Red Hook from Governor's Island was once so narrow and shallow that cattle could be herded across it. Edwin Williams wrote in 1834...