The Bleecker Street Line was a

public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typic ...

line in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, running mostly along

Bleecker Street Bleecker Street is an east–west street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which ...

Crosby Street Crosby may refer to: Places ;Canada *Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario *Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the city of Markham, Ontario ;England *Crosby, Cumbria *Crosby, Lincolnshire *Crosby, Merseyside **Crosby (UK ...

, and

Lafayette Street Lafayette Street is a major north-south street in New York City's Lower Manhattan. It originates at the intersection of Reade Street and Centre Street, one block north of Chambers Street. The one-way street then successively runs through Chi ...

from the

West 14th Street Ferry West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...

to the Fulton Ferry in the

Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...

. It was the last

horse car A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...

line in New York City, and was not replaced with a

trolley Trolley may refer to: Vehicles and components * Tram, or trolley or streetcar, a rail vehicle that runs on tramway tracks * Trolleybus, or trolley, an electric bus drawing power from overhead wires using trolley poles ** Trolleytruck, a trolleyb ...

line or

bus route A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for ...

when it was abandoned in 1917.

History

The Bleecker Street and Fulton Ferry Railroad was chartered December 12, 1864 and began operations in April 1865. Eastbound cars ran along 14th Street, Hudson Street,

Howard Street Howard Street may refer to: * Howard Street (Baltimore), a major street in Downtown Baltimore, Maryland **Howard Street Tunnel fire, a disaster that struck the freight railroad tunnel under Baltimore's Howard Street in 2001 *Howard Street (Sheffiel ...

, Reade Street, Centre Street, Park Row, and

Beekman Street Beekman is a Dutch toponymic surname, literally translating as "creek man". Variant forms are ''Beeckman'' and ''Beekmans''. The Estonian poet Vladimir Beekman's family originally carried the name ''Peekmann''. People with the surname include: Peo ...

. Westbound cars returned from the ferry on Fulton Street, Gold Street, and Ann Street to Park Row, and also used

MacDougal Street MacDougal Street is a one-way street in the Greenwich Village and SoHo neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. The street is bounded on the south by Prince Street and on the north by 8th Street (Manhattan), West 8th Street; its numbering be ...

, 8th Street,

Greenwich Avenue Greenwich Avenue, formerly Greenwich Lane, is a southeast-northwest avenue located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It extends from the intersection of 6th Avenue and 8th Street at its southeast end to it ...

, and 12th Street rather than part of Bleecker Street. The Twenty-Third Street Railway leased the company on January 10, 1876, and was subleased to the Houston, West Street and Pavonia Ferry Railroad on April 25, 1893 and to the

Metropolitan Street Railway The New York Railways Company operated street railways in Manhattan, New York City, United States between 1911 and 1925. The company went into receivership in 1919 and control was passed to the New York Railways Corporation in 1925 after which a ...

on November 29, 1893. By 1907, the line had been abandoned east of the crossing of

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, and only ran west to 14th Street; the trackage on 14th Street was used by the 14th Street-Williamsburg Bridge Line. Service was terminated on July 26, 1917."New York Loses its Last Horse Car" New York Times; Friday, July 29, 1917. Page 12 (Cable Car Lines in New York and New Jersey)
/ref>

References

{{NYC streetcar transit Streetcar lines in Manhattan Horse-drawn railways Railway lines opened in 1864 Railway lines closed in 1917