Gowanus: Brooklyn's curious canal

Description

Prologue: the tale of Sludgie the Whale -- Millponds, oysters, and early origins (1636-1774) -- Bloody waters -- The Atlantic docks and basin (1812-1851) -- Sewers, railroads, and the castle on the hill (1851-1857) -- The Brooklyn Improvement Company (1858-1869) -- Foul odors and foiled plots (1870-1885) -- Industry, identity, and violence in Gowanus (1885-1898) -- Strikes, moonshine, and mobs (1902-1949) -- The fall of South Brooklyn and the brownstone revolution (1950-1981) -- Superfund me! (1981-2010) -- Epilogue.;For more than 150 years, Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal has been called a cesspool, an industrial dumping ground, and a blemish on the face of the populous borough-as well as one of the most important waterways in the history of New York harbor. Yet its true origins, man-made character, and importance to the city have been largely forgotten. Now, New York writer and guide Joseph Alexiou explores how the Gowanus creek-a naturally-occurring tidal estuary that served as a conduit for transport and industry during the colonial era-came to play an outsized role in the story of America's greatest city. F. Prologue: the tale of Sludgie the Whale -- Millponds, oysters, and early origins (1636-1774) -- Bloody waters -- The Atlantic docks and basin (1812-1851) -- Sewers, railroads, and the castle on the hill (1851-1857) -- The Brooklyn Improvement Company (1858-1869) -- Foul odors and foiled plots (1870-1885) -- Industry, identity, and violence in Gowanus (1885-1898) -- Strikes, moonshine, and mobs (1902-1949) -- The fall of South Brooklyn and the brownstone revolution (1950-1981) -- Superfund me! (1981-2010) -- Epilogue.