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.

Until 2007, a towering, distintive icon of Red Hook was here and was so visible across the harbor that captain's used it as a navigation aid: the conical silo of the sugar refinery. The entire refinery was demolished that year, levelling an...