NYC - Gowanus Canal and Union Street Bridge

The Gowanus Canal, also known as the Gowanus Creek Canal, connected to Gowanus Bay in Upper New York Bay, was once a leading national transportation hub, with its fate mirroring the decline of domestic shipping via water.

In the 1860's, developer Edwin C. Litchfield dredged and enlarged Gowanus Creek, and the resulting Gowanus Canal drained the swampy area enlarging Brooklyn's waterfront. Coal and lumber dealers, requiring low-cost water transportation settled along the canal.

The Union Street Bridge, the northernmost of the five traffic bridges that cross Gowanus Canal, was opened on March 4, 1905. The bascule bridge is 109 feet long.