
Erie Basin dry dock (est. 1866) was a
graving dock
A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
facility located at
Erie Basin, in
Red Hook, Brooklyn
Red Hook is a neighborhood in western Brooklyn, New York City, United States, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. It is located on a peninsula projecting into the Upper New York Bay and is bounded by the Gowanus Expressway and the Ca ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. There were at least two docks built, although only one remained into the 21st century. The dock contributed to making Red Hook the "center of the shipping industry in New York", and was part of Erie Basin's dry and shipping dock infrastructure, the largest in the city. It was the first graving dock in the United States.
The dock had a complicated corporate history with many name changes, but during its heyday it was best known as the Robins Dry Dock and Repair Company in the early part of the 20th century, and then later Todd Shipyards until 1986. The last dock was paved over in 2008, for an IKEA store parking lot.
History
In 1864, William Beard and two associates of the Robins family purchased waterfront property in west Brooklyn. They built an artificially enclosed harbor with ship building and repair facilities lining the shore. They named the facility Erie Basin because it initially processed wheat floated down the
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...
on barges and ships. That same year, Beard sold a plot of land inside the Basin to the Anglo-American Dry Dock Company, who built the first solid or "graving" docks in the United States. It opened in October 1866 to much fanfare, although initially it had few customers. The largest dock was about and at the rim.
Business picked up after the docks were acquired in 1869 by Handren and Robins Company. It was renamed J. N. Robins Company in 1892, after Handren's death. In 1904, this company merged with the Erie Basin Dry Dock Company (started by DeLameter Iron Works) and was renamed Robins Dry Dock and Repair Company, the name by which the docks would be best known for the next half century.
William H. Todd had worked for both Erie Basin Dry Dock and Robins Dry Dock. In 1916, Todd and some of his associates purchased the Robins Dry Dock and Repair Company and other local and national dock facilities. The conglomerate, called the William H. Todd Corporation (later
Todd Shipyards), ran the dock for 70 years, when it was sold in 1986 to Rodermond Industries, which closed in the 1990s. The docks were then leased to a succession of other companies. The last lease was held for 8 years, by Stevens Technical Services, ending in 2005.
IKEA controversy

Around the time of the lease's expiration,
IKEA
IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services.
IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...
expressed their intent to purchase the property and turn it into a store
parking lot
A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdi ...
. Local preservationists argued the dock had been created at the end of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, and would be considered eligible for inclusion in the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.
In 2006, a
comptroller
A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accountancy, accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior- ...
for the city also said that paving over the dock would be "premature". Efforts to salvage the property included protests and a lawsuit against the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
. These efforts were unsuccessful, and by 2008 the graving dock had been filled in and paved over. The outline of the graving dock was embedded in the parking lot with stone pavers, which are visible in person, or digital map satellite view.
Modern
A modern
floating dry dock
A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
facility operates at Erie Basin, in a different location, for smaller vessels like barges and tugboats.
Names
List of companies who did business at the docks (incomplete list)
* Anglo-American Dry Dock Company
* Handren and Robins Company
* J. N. Robins Company
* Erie Basin Dry Dock Company
* Robins Dry Dock and Repair Company
* Todd-Erie Basin Dry Docks, Inc.
* Rodermond Industries
* Stevens Technical Services
References
{{reflist
Transportation buildings and structures in Brooklyn
Red Hook, Brooklyn