The landscape of Red Hook has been dramatically changed by people at least twice in its history.  Starting in a major way around 1830, marshland was filled in to make solid land, and the coast line was modified to better suit boats. Nearly...

Historian Henry Stiles writes in his 1884 history of Brooklyn: "The southern portion of the Hook was a high hill covered with locust, poplar, cedar, and sassafras trees. This hill was cut down in 1835 by Messers. Dikeman, Waring and Underhill for...

2016 draft map created by Eymund Diegel, based on his research describing Red Hook streams, ponds, tide mills up to around 1850.

Tide mills were used in Red Hook to grind grain into flour.  They were also used to grind ginger.  Water from the twice daily high tides was captured in mill ponds. A gate could be opened, sending the water rushing down a channel and...