Remnants of the once-bustling industrial waterfront
Freezing rain and icy streets in Mariners Harbor on Sunday morning presented challenging conditions for photographing the neighborhood's rich diversity of sights and scenes, from historic homes and churches to decaying remnants of the once-bustling industrial waterfront.
Many of the area's street names are historic, including Van Name Avenue, after oyster trader Capt. David Van Name, who built a home in the 1850s on the west corner of Van Name and what was then called Shore Road, now Richmond Terrace.
DeHart Avenue tracks back even further in history, referencing oysterman Matthias De Hart, who was born in 1789 and married Elizabeth Van Name in 1809.
Their son, Capt. Samuel DeHart, was born in 1816 in the family home that occupied the corner of Holland Avenue and Shore Road. He became a prosperous oyster trader, operated a ferry that connected Mariners Harbor with Elizabeth, N.J., and was a major landowner in the community.
A major point of pride for Mariners Harbor is the contribution of the huge Bethlehem Steel shipyard on Richmond Terrace during World War II.
The company had 15 shipyards during the war years, and its facilities in Mariners Harbor, and San Pedro in Los Angeles harbor, launched destroyers. The Staten Island shipyard had a foundry that specialized in making propellers for all of Bethlehem's other yards.