American businessman Rufus T. Bush (1840-1890) co-owned an oil refinery in today’s Sunset Park, Brooklyn. In the 1880s, he sold his land and business to Standard Oil- despite publicly testifying against the company’s profiteering off of railroad rebates. Rufus used his new wealth to purchase the schooner yacht Coronet and sail the world with his family. Standard Oil transformed their new land by dismantling the refinery and building six warehouses and a steamship pier.

In 1890, Rufus passed away leaving a large inheritance to his eldest son Irving T. Bush (1869-1948). Irving soon afterwards used this money to buy back his father’s land from Standard Oil. With this new acquisition Irving started Bush Company, a freight-handling terminal working with both rail and sea transport.

At the time, it was an expensive and time consuming process to transport goods across the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Companies needed to load freight cars onto specialized barges, hire tugboats to carry the barges across the river, then reload the cars onto tracks. Despite this difficult process, Irving chose to utilize both the port and the railways on his land. Critics dubbed this choice as “Bush’s Folly” believing he would quickly lose his inheritance and new company paying for freight barges. He proved them all wrong by successfully negotiating the use of his own port and railway cars in contracts, thus turning a quick profit.

In 1902, Bush Company officially changed its name to Bush Terminal Company and continued to expand its borders to 3,100 feet along the Brooklyn Waterfront. At its height the Company owned 120 warehouses; 50,000 freight cars; seven 150-foot enclosed piers; and handled 10% of all steamship traffic in New York Harbor.

During the company’s expansion phase, Irving recognized the need for a headquarters to handle all business operations. He hired the architectural firm Kirby, Petit, & Green to construct a building at 100 Broad Street in Lower Manhattan. You can learn more about the building and its connection to our collection on our blog.

The United States Government noted the influence of Bush Terminal Company in New York’s shipping industry. On December 31, 1917, The War Department took over the Brooklyn industrial park until the end of the First World War. Approximately 70% of all food, clothes, and ammunition used by American soldiers in WWI passed through Bush Terminal.

By the end of WWI, Bush Terminal Company was a self-regulating powerhouse along the Brooklyn Waterfront. The 35,000 employees and their families lived on-site and the business park also had its own internal police, fire, and court system.

After the Second World War, the Bush Terminal complex was rebranded as Industry City. The 1960s saw a rapid decline in the need for Bush Terminal Company as the use of container shipping began to rise. At this time, the local New York City government also bought land from within Bush Terminal to sell to private businesses. The once self-sufficient shipping and transport business began to fade and officially disbanded in December 1971 with the closing of Bush Terminal Railroad.

The success of Irving T. Bush is still felt today in Industry City. The business park still stands today as an innovative and creative home to artists, designers, restaurants, public spaces, archival storage, and local businesses along Brooklyn’s waterfront. Although the Bush Terminal Company no longer operates, its legacy continues to thrive a century after its founding.