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.

In his journal page for June 22, 1962, Indiana writes that he worked on the third and final panel of the "Trilogy" (The Melville Triptych), explaining that this one presented the greatest spacing difficulties. The entry includes a sketch of the panel, with notes indicating its title, "Coenties Slip," its medium, oil on canvas, and its dimensions, 60 x 48 inches. 

Indiana often discussed current events  in his journals, and here he mentions the death of John D. Rockefeller's daughter, Mrs. E. B. (Alta) Prentice, at 91, commenting "ergo Johnson starts on [the] new wing [at] [the] Modern I presume."