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Berg's Ship Yard

1870s
Not on view
By the 1820s, New York City controlled more than thirty percent of the nation’s import trade. With the port’s rise came the revitalization of the shipbuilding industry. Corlear’s Hook, where Christian Bergh established his business, was the center of the industry that stretched from Stanton to Catherine Streets along the East River. The surrounding neighborhood would have buzzed with the activity of hundreds of riggers, rope and sail makers, and joiners. The wooden-hulled ships, as Chappel depicts, were constructed waterside near workrooms and blacksmith shops. In 1806, a local paper noted the launch from Bergh’s yard of the 350-ton "Galloway" bound for the "India trade."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Berg's Ship Yard
  • Artist: William P. Chappel (American, 1801–1878)
  • Date: 1870s
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on slate paper
  • Dimensions: 6 1/8 x 9 1/8 in. (15.6 x 23.2 cm)
  • Credit Line: The Edward W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps, and Pictures, Bequest of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954
  • Object Number: 54.90.511
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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