From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Gowanus Canal also known as the Gowanus Creek Canal is located in the Brooklyn, New York neighborhoods of South Brooklyn and Red Hook over the former Gowanus Creek. It flows into Gowanus Bay and thence into Upper New York Bay near Governors Island, Erie Basin and the Buttermilk Channel. There are five east-west bridge crossings over the Canal, located at Union Street, Carroll Street, Third Street, Ninth Street, and Hamilton Avenue. The Canal was created in 1848 by widening the original Gowanus Creek into a mile and a half long commercial waterway to provide industrial access to the Gowanus Bay and, ultimately, to the Upper New York Bay. It was built up in 1881 to accomodate shippers and industrial users north of the Hamilton Avenue Bridge in Brooklyn. The Gowanus Creek Channel is a federally maintained waterway between Gowanus Bay and the canal north of the Hamilton Avenue Bridge. The Gowanus Expressway passes over the canal, as does the New York City Subway IND line.
The town of Gowanus was established in 1639 by the Dutch on a small tidal creek leading out into a small bay. In 1700, one of the first settlers, Nicholas Vechte, built a farmhouse of brick and stone now known as the Old Stone House. Near this house the Battle of Brooklyn was fought in August 1776.
Gowanus Bay became one of the manufacturing centers for shipbuilding and gas storage. Gowanus Creek was dug out by railroad owner Edwin C. Litchfield to become the Gowanus Canal. Like many owners of the Gowanus factories, Mr. Litchfield lived at the crest of the hill in Park Slope during the 1800s. His mansion is now preserved as part of Prospect Park. Light manufacturing operations developed and the canal was surrounded with gritty working class neighborhoods. The Gowanus was extremely foul smelling due to the heavy pollution.
The industrial uses in and around the Gowanus Canal have caused a significant amount of hazardous materials to deposit at the bottom of the canal. The natural water habitat has been drastically changed and detrimentally affected. This poses a great risk to area residents and discourages the private sector from investing in this area. As a result, recreational, commercial, and housing opportunities do not exist.
The Gowamnu Canal Community Development Corporation has worked to begin the redevelopment of the Gowanus Bay, Channel and Canal area. A Red Hook interceptor sewer treatment facility has been built and the Gowanus Flushing Tunnel that brought fresh water from Buttermilk Channel into the head of the canal which had been out of operation for nearly forty years is again operational.
The US Army Corps of Engineers is currently conducting a study to assess the environmental problems and potential solutions in the Gowanus Canal. Restoration measures will assess hot spot clean-up of off channel contaminated sediments, contaminant reduction measures, creation of wetlands, water quality improvements, and alteration of hydrology/hydraulics to improve water movement and quality.
