Because Beer Helps. . .

ESSAY WINNER Cathy Erway "What the Gowanus Means to Me". Really captured the meaning of the Canal.

ST. GOWANUS TRIVIA Quiz and Answers

1. Originally “Gowanus Creek”, the canal was named after. .

 a: the first Spanish explorer to visit NY harbor

b: the Chief of the local Massapequa tribe

c: the Chief of the local Canarsie tribe

d: the leader of the first Dutch colony

2. When did the Dutch first purchase land in this area?          

a: 1636

b: 1702

c: 1736

d: none of the above

3. What was the first commercial use of this land?

a: dump/landfill

b: flour mill

c: tobacco farming

d: prostitution

4. Brooklyn’s first export came from this area. What was this export?

a: tobacco

b: bread

c: oysters

d: beer

5. What is the unofficial nickname of the Canal?

a: Fresh Kills

b: Industry Row

c: Lavender Lake (there is even a documentary movie by that title)

d: Olde Breukelen   

6. Brooklyn first attempted to clean up the canal by putting in a circulation system in which year?               

a: 1711

b: 1811

c: 1911

d: 1989

7. Raw sewage was regularly pumped into the canal until a wastewater facility was built in Red Hook in which year?

a: 1711

b: 1811

c: 1911

d: 1989

8. In 1664, the first rights to dredge the canal for commercial purposes were granted to Adam Brouwer for his . . .

a: brewery

b: tobacco farm

c: flour mill

d: party barge business

9. What gives the canal its greenish color?

a: algae (technically correct, though needs b+c to survive)

b: oxygen

c: sewage

d: all of the above

e: none of the above

10. How many bodies (human, dead) have been recovered from the canal in the last 100 years?

a: 1-10

b: 10-20

c: over 20

d: none of the above. No bodies (human, dead) have been found in the canal.