The Gowanus area played an integral part in the Battle of Brooklyn, a terrible defeat for the locals trying to form a new country. Washington’s troops retreated through Gowanus to the shores of Fulton Ferry, where they escaped across the East River to Manhattan.
The canal was a post-civil war creation to become the southern terminus of the Erie Canal system for shipping grain. The remnants of that history stands on its shores.
When I arrived, there were remnants of time past everywhere you looked and nearly all the industrial sites along the canal were closed. The stragglers were cement plants, gas storage tanks, and scrap metal. The Red Hook Grain Terminal, built in 1922, is a perfect landmark for the canal. The abandoned grain elevator in Red Hook was a financial debacle from the moment it opened and matched the decline of the waterway.
The beautiful Carroll Street bridge is one of the last of its kind, the oldest of the four remaining retractable bridges in the United States, and is an official city landmark. Built in 1889, the bridge and bridge tender’s house are the heart of the Gowanus Canal.
Rumors abound of the waterways reputation as a mafia dumping ground. I did discover a body floating by the Carroll Street bridge in the 1990’s. I hoped it would never happen again and it hasn’t.
I met Alison Prete in 1999 when she produced Lavender Lake, a documentary about the battle to reclaim the Gowanus Canal. Featuring many of the people and places I had photographed, we shared a common interest with the canal. I sold the documentary on southbrooklyn.com for several years.
Looking for a special image for your home, office, or building lobby? Contact me through my website contact page. Available on metal, acrylic and print in my Fine Art Print store.
Available on metal, acrylic and traditional print in my Fine Art Print Store where you can BUY NOW, use our room display preview, and see more of Mark D Phillips portfolio of images.
The links below go to the specific image to PURCHASE NOW and can also be accessed from the enlarged image above.
- Gowanus 1997: Carroll Street was a nowhere land….
- Gowanus 1989: The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center loom over Gowanus warehouses.
- The Pumphouse: In 1999, I was granted access to photograph the interior of the .
- Lucas Gouch: Great graffiti above the Carroll Street bridge. (Read about it!)
- Gowanus Station: The facade features the center section of the Seal of New York City
- Zink!: Future home of 360 Bond……..
- Two Dan’s: First home to horses, then autos, then a restaurant, then gone….
- Bridge Tender: Leonard Thomas operates the Union Street bridge.
- The Chicken Man: Leonard Thomas, the Chicken Man of the Gowanus.
- Buddy Scotto: One of the biggest proponents of what Gowanus could be.
- Fort Defiance: John J. Burkard of Red Hook was a strong advocate to save the history of the area, including Fort Defiance.
- Diver’s End: Repairing the flushing tunnel, 1999.
- Earth Day 1999: Jeanne DeLascio pours clean water in the canal after the 1999 dredging.
- Gowanus Advocates: Linda Mariano, center, described by Brad Vogel as a “Gowanus Soldier,” passed away in 2021.
- Low Tide Junk: Dumping site at the Carroll Street bridge, 1997
Available on metal, acrylic and print in my Fine Art Print store.
Looking for a special image for your home, office, or building lobby? Contact me through my website contact page.
