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From: Marret Kauffner
Date: 20 Feb 1999
Time: 09:31:57
Remote Name: 24.128.200.35
To summarize some of the historical facts from the Gold Coast book, I've added some material about Gerritsen's Mill and the Whitney mansion to the Memories page and some dates to the Where Was It? pages.
Dead Horse Bay got its name because dead horses were brought to Barren Island to be made into glue and fertilizer. The horses's bodies were dumped into the bay. Many Irish Catholic families lived in the area and moved to Gerritsen Beach when Marine Park's construction displaced them.
Gerritsen Beach's Old Section was developed in the early 1920s by Realty Associates. After the squatters had been removed from the End, Shellbank Creek, Broad Creek, Cedar Creek, and Hog Creek were dredged and the sand piped onto what became the Old Section, raising it to seven feet above high water level. The canal was also dredged at that time.
The bungalows in the Old Section were prefabricated. Realty Associates provided a private waterworks and electric power.
Development took place in four stages: (1) from the water to Cyrus Avenue, (2) from Cyrus Avenue to Bartlett Place, (3) from Florence Avenue to Allen Avenue, and (4) from Allen Avenue to Whitney Avenue.
