View of termination of Gowanus Canal taken from Degraw Street, west of the canal, 1960.

The light-colored building beyond the canal’s end is the 1914 R.G. Dun & Co. building, a commercial reporting publisher. Further in the distance at right is the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower at 1 Hanson Place.

Completed around 1869, the Gowanus Canal was an important transportation link for Brooklyn’s booming industrial economy — and a catch point for the sewage overflow and toxic runoff produced in its watershed.

After decades of unsuccessful remediation projects, the Environmental Protection Agency added the Gowanus to its list of Superfund sites in 2010, making cleanup efforts eligible for federal funding.