Comments on: The Night Soil and Offal Docks, and Jell-O

By: singular caravan « The Newtown Pentacle

singular caravan « The Newtown Pentacle — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 09:03:44 +0000

[...] If you enjoy gelatin desserts, don’t ever, EVER try to find out. It’s not what you think it is, and the simplest thing to say is that the process for producing the stuff was invented in the 19th century at Newtown Creek… [...]

By: 12 stations of the Newtown Pentacle « The Newtown Pentacle

12 stations of the Newtown Pentacle « The Newtown Pentacle — Sat, 29 May 2010 18:05:50 +0000

[...] The Night Soil and Offal Docks, and Jell-O [...]

By: COOPER!!! « The Newtown Pentacle

COOPER!!! « The Newtown Pentacle — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:08:18 +0000

[...] Newtown Pentacle posting of June,4 2009 revealed that the origins of his great fortune were founded along the loathsome Newtown Creek, [...]

By: In the cold waste 1 « The Newtown Pentacle

In the cold waste 1 « The Newtown Pentacle — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:45:11 +0000

[...] Ravenswood, as it was and is known, once was home to mansions and in the early 19th century- luxury yachts docked at its private piers. The noveau riche who lived here were captains of local industry in Long Island City (which at the time was a series of individual villages) whose bellies had become swollen by the profits found in exploiting a thriving, natural, and wholesome body of water called the Newtown Creek. [...]

By: Newtown Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant « The Newtown Pentacle

Newtown Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant « The Newtown Pentacle — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:00:27 +0000

[...] In the not so distant past, when New York was the port of embarkation for the world, mariners would comment on the acres long slicks of sewage and garbage which characterized its harbor- and remark upon the multitudes of animal corpses floating in the rivers. In those days of pack animals and horse carriages, a secondary sewage flow of animal waste tormented the population. In a Newtown Pentacle posting from June 4, 2009, the details of the old Tammany system for disposing of waste in New York City (at Newtown Creek, of course) was explored- check out “The Night Soil and Offal Docks, and Jello“. [...]

By: Up and Through Calvary « The Newtown Pentacle

Up and Through Calvary « The Newtown Pentacle — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:29:17 +0000

[...] The collected night soil was shipped to Newtown Creek’s offal docks. One of our first posts was on this topic, click here for “the Night soil and offal docks, and Jell-O“. [...]

By: the Wrong side of the tracks, a walk in Maspeth « The Newtown Pentacle

the Wrong side of the tracks, a walk in Maspeth « The Newtown Pentacle — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 05:56:44 +0000

[...] The Night Soil and Offal Docks, and Jell-O [...]

By: Adventures upon the East River 2 « The Newtown Pentacle

Adventures upon the East River 2 « The Newtown Pentacle — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:06:40 +0000

[...] was bought by the B&O railroad in 1884. B&O- as in Canton Iron- as in Peter Cooper- as in Cooper’s Glue from the Newtown Creek. Also, as the story progresses, B&O, through acquisitions and mergers morphs into the [...]

By: bri

bri — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:11:00 +0000

I’ve always been fascinated by the horror of Newtown creek – I thought I was the only one who walked around it! The nightsoil dock is just an awful concept – I wonder if anyone took pictures back in the day.

For reading for the Laurel Hill works recommend Copper on the Creek (furnace press).

What I do find amazing is 1940′s photos showing still-natural shoreline as in theat brooklyn Library photo above. It seems odd that the natural shoreline disappared during a period when industry stopped using the creek.

By: Gotham Observer

Gotham Observer — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:32:14 +0000

Excellent stuff. Much after my own interests. Please keep it coming. Your pictures are nicely composed and have interesting color contrast.