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The Waterfront Museum and Showboat Barge

Small museum on the Brooklyn waterfront with exhibits and events related to the history of New York Harbor as a waterway carrying commerce and commuters and as a place for recreation.

The museum is housed in a wooden lighterage barge that dates from 1915. These barges were used for hauling freight between ships in New York Harbor and the shore, eliminating the need to use up dock space at a time when the port was extremely busy. These barges were made obsolete by the advent of containerization in the middle of the 20th century and the subsequent move of most port activity to New Jersey. This is, supposedly, the only remaining barge of its type in existance.

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