Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
Balkans road trip
Bosnia and Herzegovina • 9 days, 8 nights
Balkans Road Trip: Serbia, Croatia & Bosnia and Herzegovina
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Statue of the Buddha in the main temple
Gadaladeniya Viharaya
McClellan Falls
McClellan Falls
Kraken Habitat
Skye Textile Mill
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
Caru' cu Bere
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Aerial view of Pulau Tiga
The Original ‘Survivor’ Island Changed Television Forever
about 7 hours ago
Obscura Day Summer 2025: Roaming among Assateague's feral island ponies
about 9 hours ago
The main reading room of the Athenaeum.
Obscura Day Summer 2025: Literary Landmarks Across Providence
about 10 hours ago
The Campus Theatre in downtown Lewisburg.
Obscura Day Summer 2025: An Art Deco Theater in Pennsylvania
about 10 hours ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States New York State New York City Brooklyn Red Hook Grain Terminal

Red Hook Grain Terminal

The most unloved grain elevator in Brooklyn was a “Magnificent Mistake.”

Brooklyn, New York

Added By
Hannah Frishberg
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Inside the Red Hook Grain Elevator   Hannah Frishberg / Atlas Obscura User
Inside the Red Hook Grain Elevator   Hannah Frishberg / Atlas Obscura User
Inside the Red Hook Grain Elevator   Hannah Frishberg / Atlas Obscura User
Inside the Red Hook Grain Elevator   Hannah Frishberg / Atlas Obscura User
Red Hook Grain Elevator   Hannah Frishberg / Atlas Obscura User
  tylercole / Atlas Obscura User
Looking north from the south tower.   ndmlosi / Atlas Obscura User
The main gallery. Each circular aperture in the floor leads to the inside of a single silo, and a 120’ clear drop.   ndmlosi / Atlas Obscura User
  https://www.flickr.com/photos/lazzo13/
Sunset from atop the silos   ndmlosi / Atlas Obscura User
Inside one of the towers atop the silos   ndmlosi / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

A vestige from the golden age of grain shipping, the Red Hook Grain Elevator is a monster of an anachronism on the Brooklyn waterfront.

Alone at the mouth of the Gowanus Canal, its industrial brethren (the Todd Shipyard and Revere Sugar Refinery) having been demolished, this century-old relic is quite useless in this modern era, but then it was never really useful, even in its own time.

12 stories high and 430 feet long, containing 54 cement silos, each 120 feet tall and with walls eight inches thick, this grain terminal is not only monstrously larger than most, but was also opened seven years after the last grain terminal in Brooklyn was converted into a storage warehouse, leading it to be dubbed the “Magnificent Mistake”. Built in 1922, the space is essentially a bomb shelter, the silos having been made fireproof in order to hold the combustible grain.

In 1944, after 22 years of profitless operation, the state deeded the elevator to the Port Authority. By 1965, even the Port Authority gave up on the hulk, and it was officially deactivated. In 1997, John Quadrozzi Jr., a longtime Gowanus enthusiast, bought the building.

But alas, unless a market appears for large, windowless silos, the Red Hook Grain Elevator looks like it is condemned to continue its unloved life until it crumbles into the Gowanus. 

 

 

Related Tags

Relics Abandoned Abandoned Brooklyn Ruins

Community Contributors

Added By

Hannah Frishberg

Edited By

TravelTourist, danaphora, tylercole, ndmlosi

  • TravelTourist
  • danaphora
  • tylercole
  • ndmlosi

Published

May 13, 2013

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://billywoerner.wordpress.com/2010/09/18/red-hook-grain-terminal-september-18-2010/
  • http://ecologyofleisure.blogspot.com/2011/03/exploring-red-hooks-grain-elevator.html
  • http://gothamist.com/2007/05/27/grain_terminal.php
  • http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/18/30_18concretesilos.html
Red Hook Grain Terminal
80 Halleck Street
Brooklyn, New York, 11231
United States
40.670827, -74.004605
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Red Hook Play Center

Brooklyn, New York

miles away

Red Hook Ball Fields Food Vendors

Brooklyn, New York

miles away

Red Hook Community Farm

Brooklyn, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Brooklyn

Brooklyn

New York

Places 241
Stories 46

Nearby Places

Red Hook Play Center

Brooklyn, New York

miles away

Red Hook Ball Fields Food Vendors

Brooklyn, New York

miles away

Red Hook Community Farm

Brooklyn, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Brooklyn

Brooklyn

New York

Places 241
Stories 46

Related Stories and Lists

Venture Inside the Red Hook Grain Elevator, A Failure of Industrial Design

relics

By Hannah Frishberg

Related Places

  • Brooklyn, New York

    Gowanus Batcave

    Abandoned power station once home to a squatter community, now being developed into an arts center.

  • Tamaqzah, Tunisia

    Tamaghza El Gdima (Abandoned Village of Tamerza)

    The ruins of a village destroyed by a 22-day flood.

  • The water tank

    Oxford, England

    Slade Camp

    A lost World War II military camp and post-war suburb swallowed by the woods.

  • The Poltalloch House has a long history behind it.

    Kilmartin, Scotland

    Poltalloch House

    The ruins of this 19th-century Scottish Baronial mansion reflect the architectural heritage and history of Scotland's aristocracy.

  • The Maribel Caves Hotel is located next to a park that shares its name.

    Maribel, Wisconsin

    Maribel Caves Hotel

    These rural ruins are of a Midwestern hotel that was once an elegant spa for the wealthy, then a gangster’s hideaway, and finally a haunted retreat.

  • Argyll and Bute Hospital

    Lochgilphead, Scotland

    Argyll and Bute Hospital

    This ruins of an abandoned Victorian-era mental health facility.

  • Pune, India

    Taljai Mansion

    The crumbling ruins of an old stone mansion sit atop a hill in the middle of Pune.

  • Cabin made of old railroad ties.

    Carlin, Nevada

    Palisade

    Little is left of this formerly bustling railroad junction on the Transcontinental Railroad.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.