Robert Indiana kept a series of illustrated journals during the late 1950s and 1960s, in which he discusses the development of his work as well as his daily life on Coenties Slip

Indiana's journal page for August 3, 1961, includes a sketch of The Slips, the artist recording that he "changed old painting into 'Slip' painting today." He also notes that "it was necessary [to] resurrect one slip, 'Burlin' [one of the eight slips mentioned in the painting], which in [the] passing of time has become John Street."