The Beard and Robinson Stores were built by Jeremiah P. Robinson and William Beard in he 1860s and 70’s and were eventually founded in 1872 during a surge in dockside warehousing after the Civil War. Far from the farms of the Midwest, the Beard and Robinson Stores were part of a complex of grain terminals, warehouses, wharves, and shipyards constructed by Beard to accommodate goods and materials bound for New York Harbor via the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal. That’s why they call it Erie Basin. Today, the stores stand as a reminder of an era when Red Hook provided the most modern shipping facilities of the day. The Beard and Robinson Stores retain much of its historic character, with 250 restored arched iron shutters and the retention of the original beams and massive supporting timbers. Coffee and cocoa beans can still be found in the cracks of the original floorboards.