Welcome to 400+ years of Red Hook history! Here are many forgotten stories from our evocative neighborhood, and NYC’s maritime story in microcosm. Explore:
- A digital museum about our waterfront past and present
- Red Hook retail, arts, non-profits, schools, recreation
- Resiliency and flood prep info
It’s a resource for locals, tourists, history buffs, urban-planners, educators, investors, flaneurs. Explore via menus, the search window or the interactive map. On the map, click the colored, numbered dots to zoom in to multiple items in that location. Then click on a pin to explore that item. Anchor icons mean sites of major importance.
Click empty spot on map to activate it
Featured Item
Growing land, Squatter Sovereigns and Picking Profit: 1887
A fair portion of today’s Red Hook was once water. An 1887 article in the Brook Eagle marvels that Henry and neighboring streets have been extended nearly half a mile in ten years. Marshes with…Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sunday July 3 1887Transcription.
HENRY STREET’S CHANGES--A Walk at the Lower End Well Worth Taking.--The Growth of a Year and a Half – Squatter Sovereigns – Side…
Chiclet, PortSide Ship Cat, thoughts on preparing for a flood
Hi, I’m PortSide’s ship cat, Chiclet. Listen up. I have experience with this resiliency thing, and my celebrity status can help get the word out. I was listed in Time Out Magazine’s top NYC…
Erie Basin: The Photography of Jenny Young Chandler, 1890-1915
Newly married and recently widowed in 1890, Jennie Chandler Young began working as a photojournalist to support herself and her two-month old son. Using the moniker "Brooklyn Girl," she worked until…
Random Items
Jim Ebersole's artwork: Mary A. Whalen in the Red Hook Container Port, 2015-2016
From the artist:
In the spring of 2015 artist Jim Ebersole was invited by Portside NewYork to paint and draw the Mary A. Whalen and her surroundings during the last weeks of her time inside the Red…
Historic Nautical Charts
Historic nautical charts provide interesting details on the evolution of Red Hook.
From NOAA Office of Coast Survey:
Today's Office of Coast Survey traces its charting efforts back to 1807, when…
PortSide NewYork
PortSide NewYork created this Red Hook WaterStories product.
PortSide is a maritime non-profit founded in Red Hook in 2005.
Our goal is to create a waterfront center with a landing for boats, a home…
Chiclet, PortSide Ship Cat, thoughts on preparing for a flood
Hi, I’m PortSide’s ship cat, Chiclet. Listen up. I have experience with this resiliency thing, and my celebrity status can help get the word out. I was listed in Time Out Magazine’s top NYC…