Exterior of Rail Crane on Tracks in Front of Bush Terminal Building
Image showing exterior view of rail crane on tracks with Bush Terminal Buildings Company building 19 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Perspective view of front and side showing length of crane machinery. It is likely that this is crane # 9006 manufactured by Brown Hoisting Machinery and owned by South Brooklyn Railway.
New York Transit Museum"ONE OF THE LARGEST WAREHOUSES IN BROOKLYN- Bush Terminal, recently taken over by the U.S. Government, 1918."
Bush Terminal (now called Industry City) is a series of large warehouse buildings on the waterfront in Sunset Park. The buildings and additional infrastructure were constructed over a 30 years period. (The warehouses were built circa 1892–1910, the railroad from 1896 to 1915, and the factory lofts between 1905 and 1925.) The intermodal shipping, warehousing, and manufacturing complex was originally referred to as Bush's Folly as most railroad officials would not ship directly to Brooklyn. But Irving Bush persevered and started some of his own shipping and warehousing businesses to prove the usefulness of his massive complex to prospective tenants.
By 1918, Bush Terminal owned 3,100 feet of waterfront and covered 20 waterfront blocks. The complex included seven piers and had more than 20 miles of railroad tracks. In 1918 (as noted in the original caption for this photograph) a large section of the terminal was commandeered for use by the U.S. Navy.
Urban Archive