By The Red Hook WaterStories team
Captain Rich Naruszewicz started his career in 1978 as a deckhand. He worked on the MARY A. WHALEN for three years in the early 90s and now is a captain of one of the few remaining oil tankers in the New York Harbor the Chandra B . He was...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
Heidi Benedikt - part 1: audio element. Heidi Benedikt - part 2: audio element. Synopsis of interview with Heidi Benedikt, former crew member of the MARY A. WHALEN. Recording times in parenthesis are aproximate. (0:10) The delegate of the...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
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...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
In honor of the ship MARY A .WHALEN reaching its 80th year PortSide NewYork invited the Urban Sketchers to come and be inspired by her views. Below is some of the artwork made that day. Scattered on, around, and in the Red Hook neighborhood of...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
On the occasion of the MARY A WHALEN's birthday James Teehan responded to a PortSide NewYork's May 21, 2018 Facebook post with fond memories: " Happy birthday. I have fond memories of the Mary A. Whalen on the Hudson River back in the 60s and 70s....
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
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...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
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. The map shows a street grid where Coffey Park is today, but the park did not yet exist at the point...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
The large expanse of Brooklyn Red Hook property of John Dikeman and others was mapped in preparation of it sale on Monday, August 29, 1836. The map shows the waterline of Red Hook of the time and the projected land, roads and park noting that: ...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
The large Red Hook, Brooklyn estate of Jordan Coles was put up for sale on June 2nd, 1836, following his death. The map shows the Gowanus Creek, before it was turned into a canal; mills and mill ponds; scattered houses and a mansion, not aligned...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
William Perris was a first in producing fire insurance maps for Brooklyn. The Great fires in 1835 and 1845 that destroyed large sections of the New York City made it clear to insurers the utility of knowing what buildings were made of and what...
