Page 23 - Rukert - 100th Anniversary

In June 1927, a new Rukert Brothers, Inc., division was started. This division made it possible for stevedoring and weighing charges to be kept separate from those for terminaling and warehousing operations. Though previous owners and future preservationists called the property Miller’s Wharf, Cap called his first marine terminal at the foot
of Caroline Street “Jackson’s Wharf.” Perhaps he borrowed the name from the railroad station next door, where he got his start on the waterfront.
PART I THE RUKERT STORY
THE EARLY YEARS REMEMBERED
“I WILL NEVER FORGET THE FIRST TIME MY FATHER, W.G.N. (CAP) RUKERT, TOOK ME DOWN TO THE BALTIMORE HARBOR. I must have been about 10 years old. It was a hot Saturday in July when he asked me if I would like to see a German vessel being discharged with bulk potash. In those days, I seldom saw my father, as he worked seven days a week, usually long days, and I was often asleep when he came home.
“As we walked into the Block Street Wharf warehouse, the dust was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The men shoveling potash were stripped to the waist and so wet with perspiration it looked like someone had dipped them overboard. I was scared to death as we climbed the shaky ladder to board the vessel. As we moved along the deck, I was amazed at its size and length. The men were shoveling potash into large iron tubs, which were then hoisted out of the hatch and dumped into a hopper. My father introduced me to the Captain, who took us up the bridge and showed me how to read the compass and let me turn the ship’s wheel. From the bridge, I looked over the side and saw men pulling two-wheeled Georgia buggy carts filled with potash. I thought mules should be pulling them instead of men. Little did I realize that some years later, I would be pulling the same carts.
“When I got home that afternoon, I felt that I had returned from a different world, but it was a day I will never forget.” — Norman Rukert Sr.
ABOVE:
Georgia buggy
used to move fertilizers such as potash by hand
FACING PAGE:
The marine terminal known as “Jackson’s Wharf” in the late 1920s and a deed transferring ownership of Jackson's Wharf to Cap Rukert
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