Southern Piers:

American Export Lines used Piers A, B and C for both passenger and cargo ships from the 1950s to about 1970, becoming the last major company to use the piers as Hoboken’s era as a working seaport was ending because of a shift to containerized shipping, larger cargo ships, and the rise of Port Newark. Union longshoremen loaded and unloaded the ships, and Hoboken’s Donald “Red” Barrett worked as a longshoreman for American Export while also photographing typical dockside scenes as an avid amateur photographer. He recalled that unloading a freighter carrying barrels of wine or bags of hot peppers could take three days with a gang of 150 men. The ‘shape up’ was part of dock life: if a worker was not hired by 8 a.m., he did not work that day. Working on the docks was said to be the second most dangerous job in the U.S. after coal mining. All southern port operations ceased by 1983, the pier conditions deteriorated over the next decade, and by the time waterfront redevelopment was considered, the piers were in major disrepair. All pier buildings were demolished, and Pier C is now honored by an island park pier with landscaping, a promenade, fishing hole and playground.

Hoboken, New Jersey · United States