By The Red Hook WaterStories team
Red Hook's Atlantic Basin was the main port of entry for early Puerto Rican migrants. They traveled on the ships of the NEW YORK & PORTO RICO STEAMSHIP COMPANY" (aka, PORTO RICO LINE). Jose Mendez is quoted in Place Matters , a joint...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
In the early 1900s, many Puerto Ricans migrated to Brooklyn on the S.S Carolina. Most paid for their passage, but some hid on board - and of that number some made the newspapers. This was the case for 4 sixteen year old boys (three of African...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
In 1920, the Red 'D' line advertised that it would sail weekly from Pier 11, Red Hook Brooklyn, carrying passengers and freight between New York, Puerto Rico, Curacao and Venezuela. The line, established in 1838, was owned by Bliss,...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
The Porto Rico Line regularly sailed from the Atlantic Basin's Pier 35 to Puerto Rico. The line transported cargo and tourists to and from the islands. Many Puerto Ricans migrated to New York on the line and established a community in Red Hook. In...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
Ramon Colon recounts his experience of traveling by boat to Brooklyn. He also discusses why Brooklyn Puerto Ricans often moved to 'El Barrio' instead of staying in Brooklyn. Transcription of interview: His arrival to Brooklyn. “I came by ship. By...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
The New York and Puerto Rico steamship company's ships traveled between San Juan, Puerto Rico and Pier 35, Atlantic Basin in Red Hook. [ The Brooklyn Daily Eagle , March 27, 1917] The SS COAMO, SS BRAZOS, and SS CAROLINA were all ships that took...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
Jesus Colon, a Brooklyn Puerto Rican activist, traveled to New York from Puerto Rico on the S.S. Carolina in 1917. At 16 years old, he convinced his friends who worked on the crew to hide him in the linen closet in an effort to escape to New York...
