Iconic features at the Red Hook waterfront.
Iron door shutters are found on all of the O’Connell properties here in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
The arched casements and doors are typical of the era in which these properties were built, just before and after the American Civil War in the 1860’s.
The arches provide strength, and allow for entranceways wide and tall enough for horse drawn wagons to have been backed up into them.
The iron doors were a necessity in the days before fire suppression systems, and would help to contain flames in case of an emergency until the bucket brigades of firefighters could form up.