The Waterfront Museum Education Packet

Education Packet

I. Introduction
Built in 1914, Lehigh Valley Railroad Barge #79 (LHV # 79) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the only surviving example of wooden railroad lighterage. LHV #79 once stowed and carried rice, coffee, sugar, flour, and spices to and from railroads and larger vessels for passage across the Atlantic during the height of the Port of New York’s maritime trade activity, 1910-1960. It is moored at Pier 44 off Conover Street on the Red Hook, Brooklyn waterfront.
Stepping onto the dark red barge, students imagine captains, stevedores and mates busy with the storage and delivery of merchandise. They envision a once active port, filled with railroad carfloats transporting freight, tugboats loudly blowing steam whistles, and brick warehouses, amidst waterfront terminals, stocked with cargo and teeming with longshoremen, woodworkers, and engineers.