Red Hook Then to Now: marsh, mill pond, port, derelict, renewal
How Red Hook's topography evolves from Native American summer camp to Dutch mill ponds with oyster beds, then ports, warehouses and finally a street grid. Did you know that the 1840s development of Atlantic Dock jumpstarts a 100-year development boom? What follows is a century of teeming ports, factories, racing yachts, massive clusters of barges, floating pools, shanty towns, and row houses. Then comes the 1960s plummet, years of limbo, the 1992 nadir, and a rapid rebound in the 2000s. The hurricane Sandy of 2012 and mega developers describe the most recent years.