Rays of Light and Hope for Gowanucians

On Friday, we ran an item about Gowanus and baseball, which prompted a kind reader doing some heavy duty historical research to send us the image that we reproduce above. For those of you disinclined to decipher the clip, which is from the July 20, 1887 issue of Sporting Life. It says:

The occasional victory won by the foraging Brooklyn team throws a ray of light and happiness over Gowanus that makes the Gowanucians forget past defeats, present troubles, and that it is an awfully ill-smelling breeze that comes up from Gowanus Creek.

Gowanus was the home of Washington Park, an early home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. A wall that still stands on Third Avenue near Third Street is said to be a surviving part of the original complex, although it isn't believed to have been part of the stadium itself.

Gowanucians. Who knew?

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