Berg's Ship Yard

William P. Chappel

1870s · Oil on slate paper · The American Wing

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."

Artist

William P. Chappel

Date

1870s

Medium

Oil on slate paper

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

The Edward W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps, and Pictures, Bequest of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954