Another Look at the Smith-9th Street Area in Brooklyn: 1952

  This picture was taken from a Gowanus Area blog but the original photograph is the property of the Brooklyn Public Library.  It was taken in 1952 under the title of "Vital Waterway".  In this remarkable shot, you are facing north on the Gowanus Canal.  You see the Smith-9th Street elevated subway line crossing the canal.  The station is very high because the 9th Street drawbridge is right under it.  I believe that a year earlier, on February 11, 1951, the Smith Street trolley died.  It ran under the station  and over the  9th Street drawbridge.  You see the movable (adjustable)  gas tank in it's correct position.  Surrounding the canal was various cement and coal companies. I believe Cirillo Brothers was a coal company and they had  branch(es) near the Culver Line at the 13th Avenue Station.  In later years, I believe they became a supplier of fuel oil for heating.  In the right side of the shot, you see the Williamsburg Bank Building, which was for that time and perhaps until recently, the highest building in Brooklyn.  To the left, you see some of the tall office buildings on Court Street Brooklyn.  Manhattan skyscrapers do not show up in this photo.  To this day, this area is industrial with cement companies but there are plans for housing near the canal.  I believe Bob Diamond wants to link this area to the Red Hook Streetcar  as well.