The Astral Oil Works, at North 12th Street and the East River, refined oil into kerosene, which was the main illuminating oil used in lamps before electric lighting. The company used the slogan “the holy lamps of Tibet are primed with Astral Oil,” suggesting that this product dominated the kerosene market. The facility was devastated by fire in 1873, and suffered serious damage by fire several times thereafter: accounts in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle date from 1880, 1884, and 1887.

The topography of this area has been dramatically altered. Bushwick Creek extended over a mile inland and provided waterwheel power to early industries. It was completely filled in by the turn of the last century. Bushwick Inlet is the site of a proposed waterfront park, created in the 2005 rezoning; only the southernmost part of the park has been built.