Ichaboe, a small island off the coast of Nambia, once towered high with mounds of seabird guano - an excellent fertilizer. Large scale exporting of the “white gold” began in 1843 and for a few years 450 ships were streaming to and from the...
Map of the consolidated city of Brooklyn, for Bishop's Manual of the Corporation, 1859
This 1859 map shows the established Atlantic Basin in Red Hook, and a neighboring "Proposed Basin" that was not built as shown. The large Erie Basin, however, was built closer to the Gowanus in the mid-1860s. The towns of Bushwick and Williamsburg...
Map of the city of Brooklyn, L.I.: shewing the streets as at present existing with the buildings and the intended canal and other works, 1850
This 1850 map of the City of Brooklyn produced by J. F Harrison and published by M. Dripps shows the Red Hook waterfront in transition. Atlantic Dock has been built by this time but construction of the larger Erie Basin had not begun. Much of...
Ad For Atlantic Docks, 1847
Construction of The Atlantic Dock - a massive, man-made harbor for deep water ships, began on June 3, 1841. The erection of stout stone warehouses and towering grain elevators that could handle products coming down the Erie Canal began in...
Candy Makers Fined, Atlantic Dock, 1913
The storehouses of Atlantic Dock were originally built for storing goods from ships, but as trade routes changed many were converted into factory spaces. In 1913 the William J. Tulin Company had a large candy making operation, at 1 and 3 Atlantic...
Pig found in a Drowning State, Atlantic Dock Basin, 1852
Morning Courier and New York Enquirer March 30, 1852 Picked up by a boat in the Atlantic Dock Basin, a pig in a drowning state. Owner can have the same by identifying property and paying expenses
Atlantic Dock Brooklyn: Important improvement at Brooklyn, 1848.
The construction of the Atlantic Dock in Red Hook, Brooklyn was substantially completed by the beginning of 1848. The N.Y. Courier and Enquirer, reported that they have over three thousand feet of docking space and "have constructed one of the...
Gowanus Bay Improvement Plan, 1892
This 1892 map by the Corps of Engineers, titled Improvement of Gowanus Bay , New York Harbor shows, in addition to the existing Atlantic and Erie Basins, a proposed basin between Hicks and Clinton streets.
Lost Love Found: Immigration, Romance and the Atlantic Basin, 1913
When the Steamer Uranium, from Rotterdam, via Halifax docked at Atlantic Basin's Pier 38 in Red Hook, all the talk was about love. Love was what people were talking about when the Steamer Uranium docked at Pier 38, Atlantic Basin, Red Hook, in...
Fishing for Mackerel, Atlantic Dock, 1901
Red Hook was feasting on mackerel, late October of 1901. A school of the fish reportedly chased by bluefish and porpoises had found their way into Atlantic Basin. Fishermen lined the piers, catching the mackerel with makeshift poles and any kind of...