Two tidal grist mills on this old swampland used trapped and released water to grind local wheat in the Dutch colonial days.

By the middle of the seventeenth century, Dutch settlers had drained parts of the marsh and dug several ponds alongside the Gowanus Creek to power their tide mills. When full, the ponds would be closed off from the creek by a gate. Once the tide was low enough, the miller would open the gates, and the energy generated by the water flowing out would turn the mill stones.

Around 1660, Adam Brouwer, a mercenary soldier from the Dutch West India Company, built a mill on the banks of the Gowanus Creek. The tide mill, later renamed Freek’s Mill, was the first in New Netherland. Other mills like Denton's and Cole’s followed suit and soon, Gowanus was a hotbed of grain grinding activity.