Red Hook Play Center, June 26, 1961. The Red Hook Play Center, one of eleven public pools built by the WPA, opened to the public in August, 1936. Today, the Olympic-sized pool is named for benefactor Sol Goldman and is part of the larger Red Hook Recreation Area, which includes athletic fields and fitness facilities. The pool facility was built on a lot created by landfill in 1904 for a freight terminal that was never constructed. In 1939, three years after the Play Center’s opening, the Red Hook Houses development was completed across several adjoining blocks. By the 1980s, the pool’s condition had deteriorated, necessitating a three-year restoration project funded in part by Sol Goldman (Goldman was again called on to contribute funds when a budget shortfall imperiled public pool openings in the summer of 1991).

The Sullivan Street facade of the former St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Chapel, 1931. An 1886 map lists the chapel as “being built” at the corner of Sullivan and Richards Streets. The church was active at least as late as 1911, when its annual three-day fundraising fair was held in November.

Coffey Park ca. 1951 Coffey Park sits snug in the middle of Red Hook. Before it was Coffey Park, it was Red Hook Park. Before that, it was a patch of land in a developing neighborhood of Brooklyn. Due to the rise of the waterfront industry and population growth of the mid to late 1800s, Red Hook grew in size. People arrived, houses were built, and a park was declared. It was named after Michael Coffey, a well-known representative of the district and long-time resident of Red Hook. The mid-1800s saw a rise in population for the small Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook as a result of the construction of the Atlantic Basin in 1839 and the opening of the Erie Basin in the late 1860s. Shipyards, docks, and piers were built along the waterfront and Red Hook became a bustling little neighborhood of longshore and dock workers. In 1867 the City Board of Alderman elected Michael J. Coffey to represent Brooklyn’s 12thWard. Born in County Cork, Ireland, Coffey and his family came to the United States in 1844. They lived in Chicago for five years before moving east to New York and settling in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook. Expressing interest in local politics, Coffey got involved with the Democratic Party and served as Alderman of Brooklyn’s 12th Ward from 1867 through 1874. After serving as a New York State Assemblyman from 1874 to 1892, Coffey was once again elected as Alderman of the 12th Ward, this time as Alderman President. Previously known as Red Hook Park, the land was purchased by the Brooklyn Parks Department in 1892. The new park, renamed Coffey Park, opened in 1901 and soon after in 1907, more acres of land were purchased to expand the grounds. Many years later in 1943, a third tract of land on Pioneer Street was bought and the full expanse of Coffey Park was complete.

Defonte’s Sandwich Shop, 1939. Founded in 1922 by Nick Defonte, the sandwich shop claims to be the oldest eatery in Red Hook.

“Red Hook Houses, a low rent government housing center, under construction on the north side of Lorraine Street. The entire block from Creamer to Lorraine Streets is an empty lot. April 19,1939.” (Note the stray dog in the foreground!) The Red Hook Houses were completed in 1939, and are today split into two complexes, East and West. This is the East complex. The “empty lot” is now a parking lot.

Public School 27 at the corner of Nelson and Hicks Streets, 1930. This school building was constructed in 1890, but an 1885 Brooklyn Eagle report describes a school operating at the same location five years earlier. The report details unsanitary conditions in the low-lying area: the Slab City shanty town near the Gowanus Canal, “sewerless streets,” tidal and runoff ponds, and a “vast public dumping ground” along Delevan Street between Richards and Dwight Streets.

Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Roman Catholic Church, from Red Hook Park, 1931. This is the Visitation congregation’s third church, a Gothic Revival building, built of dark Manhattan schist in 1896 after a fire destroyed the previous building on this site.