Beard Street Warehouses

499 VAN BRUNT STREET, BROOKLYN, NY 11231

The Beard Street Warehouse was built by William Beard in 1869 during a surge in dockside warehousing after the Civil War. Far from the farms of the Midwest, the Beard St. Warehouse was part of a complex of grain terminals, warehouses, wharfs and shipyards constructed by Beard to accommodate goods and materials bound for New York Harbor via the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal.

Today, the warehouse stands as a reminder of an era when Red Hook provided the most modern shipping facilities of the day. The Beard St. Warehouse retains much of its historic character, with 250 restored arched iron shutters and the retention of the original beams and massive supporting timbers. Coffee and cocoa beans can still be found in the cracks of the original floorboards.