Pardon Me For Asking: Calls To Clean And Dredge The Gowanus Canal....In 1898

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Calls To Clean And Dredge The Gowanus Canal....In 1898

This is an original etching by Henry Farrer from 1880 of a huge boat on the Gowanus waterway. It was sent to me by the Park Slope Gallery, which has a large collection of historic Brooklyn material.
I am very thankful to the gallery for allowing me to post some of these pieces on Pardon Me For Asking.
What a treat!
And speaking of the Gowanus....

More discussion of Sewer Overflow, of nasty refuse and of dredging and cleaning of the Gowanus Canal. The topic is being discussed on blogs, in news articles and local television shows.
However, this article is from 1898, more than one hundred and eleven years ago.

It was sent to me by friend and reader Cynthia who found it in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle archives of the Brooklyn Public Library.

From The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 29th 1897

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: So one of the original polluters of the canal wanted it dredged so it could continue to pollute it. And I'm sure everyone thought that dredging was a good idea. Just like most people think the Superfund is a good idea.Now we can see how it got so bad.; May 05, 2009 12:56 PM
Plow to Plate said...: Gross. An example of how abused the canal has been for so long. Superfund is a Godsend to the canal. We need ALL the comprehensive, powerful tools that the Superfund will bring to clean it up - because it is a sad mess.; May 07, 2009 6:47 AM