In the early 1920s, the international freight trade collapsed leaving as many as 1,000 Norwegian seamen unemployed and unable to get back home. With little to no income many of them made shelters on a large area of landfill and rubble just north of...
Norwegian images
These images are part of the essay The History of Norwegians in Red Hook
Norwegian Ship RESTAURATION
United States Postage Stamp: Norse American Centennial 1925 Issue 2 cents, sloop Restauration constructed in Norway in 1801. Created: 31 December 1900. This image is part of a much longer article on the Norwegians in Red Hook
Brooklyn Basin - The Basin that Never Was.
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...
Brooklyn Piers - 1920
A list of the piers in Brooklyn, their location, length and occupants publishished in the Port of New York Annual Report of 1920. In the Red Hook area were: Ferry Slips , located at Hamilton Avenue, run by the Union Ferry Company, owned by New York...
Red Hook Junk Dealer in the Toils, 1885
Frank Schmidt, known to the police as "Dutch Frank," a junk dealer operating in and around Red Hook Point faced trial for dealing in stolen goods, October 1855. Junk dealers made their living buying spare sails, ropes and old iron from...
How Ira Bushey Built up his Ship Building Plant, 1920
Starting out as a caulker of wooden ships, Ira S. Bushey, by dint of hard work, was the owner of the biggest shipyard constructing wooden ships in the country in 1920 - located in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Ira S. Bushey was the first builder and operator...
Big Fire in Erie Basin, 1901
A huge fire destroyed Beard's Wharf in Erie Basin. The steamship Idlewild was destroyed, but luckily drifted away and prevented further damage to other ships.
Ira S. Bushey
Ira S. Bushey and Sons, for three generations was a nationally significant business located in Brooklyn’s Red Hook. Moreover, the tanker MARY A. Whalen, homeship of PortSide NewYork was built for Ira S. Bushey. Ira S. Bushey was born in...
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 Hook Container Terminal. He spent several days...