The Gowanus neighborhood was originally a tidal estuary of small creeks in the original saltwater marshland of South Brooklyn. These marshes teemed with fish and other wildlife and the early settlers named it "Gowanes Creek" after chief Gowanes, the leader of the local tribe of Native American Canarsees.  In 1636 the Dutch made an initial purchase near Gowanus Bay. During this time many Dutch farmers, who settled along the banks fished for the large, succulent oysters and shipped them back to Europe, making the Gowanus oysters Brooklyn's fish export. By the middle of the 19th century, Brooklyn was the fastest growing city in America and had integrated the creek and farmland into the larger urban fabric. As the need for navigational and docking facilities in New York City increased, the New York State Legislature authorized the construction of the Gowanus Canal in 1849. Although the canal was only two-miles long, the Gowanus Canal soon became a hub of Brooklyn's maritime and commercial activity. The Gowanus Canal became one of Brooklyn's prominent locations for heavy industry, including coal gas manufacturing plants, oil refineries, machine shops, chemical plants, a cement maker, soap maker, and a tannery. This growth of industry soon led to large working-class residential areas establishing around the industrial core. These new buildings required a sewer connection that ended up dumping raw sewage into the Gowanus Canal. By the turn of the century, the mixture of the industrial pollutants and runoff from the stormwater the new sewage system became known as "Lavender Lake". 

    The canal acted as a neighborhood sink, a repository for storm drainage, sewage overflow, and industrial waste. This "sink" however "has a badly clogged drain". The water was so dirty that sunlight could penetrate about a foot. Residents reported seeing gobs of unidentified muck, condoms, driftwood, children's toys, book, as well the occasional dead person or animal floating in it. The water was mysterious and often appeared green with a white undertone. The builders had thought the tides of the water would flush it out, instead the water stagnated along with the waste in it.  To combat the stagnant water in the Canal, they created a pumping station, the Flushing Tunnel in 1911. However, in 1961, the flushing station broke and was abandoned for the next thirty-seven years. the original flush system never worked properly and it was scheduled to resume operation next year but it would leave the sediment, which was too toxic to clean, untouched. The 1970s ushered in a new sense of urbanism in South Brooklyn known as the "Brownstone Revival". The results of this movement led to the establishment of the Red Hook Wastewater Treatment Facility and in 1989 raw sewage was no longer flushed directly into the Gowanus Canal. This movement was combined with a new appreciation for environmental issues and continues to be the impetus for reviving the Gowanus Canal today.

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