The Pennsylvania Railroad Station was the intermodal passenger terminal for the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

's (PRR) vast holdings on the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

and Upper New York Bay in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.ferry slip A ferry slip is a specialized docking facility that receives a ferryboat or train ferry. A similar structure called a barge slip receives a barge or car float that is used to carry wheeled vehicles across a body of water. Often a ferry intend ...

s were the main New York City station for the railroad until the opening in 1910 of

New York Pennsylvania Station Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station, is the main intercity railroad station in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States ci ...

, made possible by the construction of the North River Tunnels. It was one of the busiest stations in the world for much of the 19th century. The terminal was on

Paulus Hook Paulus Hook is a community on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City, New Jersey. It is located across the river from Manhattan. The name Hook comes from the Dutch word "hoeck", which translates to "point of land." This "point of land" ...

, which in 1812 became the landing of the first steam ferry service in the world, and to which rail service began in 1834. Train service to the station ended in November 1961 and demolition of the complex was completed in 1963. Part of the former terminal complex is now the

PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desire p ...

system's Exchange Place Station while the

Harborside Financial Center Harborside is an office complex in the Exchange Place district of Jersey City, New Jersey located on the Hudson Waterfront. All the buildings are owned and managed by Mack-Cali Realty Corporation, with the exception of Harborside Plaza 10, whi ...

was built upon part of the old site. The station was one of five passenger railroad terminals on the western shore of the

during the 19th and 20th centuries, the others being

Weehawken Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,197.

, Hoboken, Pavonia, and Communipaw, with Hoboken being the only station still in use. The PRR referred to the location simply as "Jersey City," and if necessary to distinguish it from other railroads' terminals, as the Pennsylvania station.

History

As early as July 1764 a ferry began operating from

to the foot of Courtland Street (where

Cortland Street Ferry Depot Cortlandt Street Ferry Depot was the main ferry terminal of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the West Shore Railroad on the North River (Hudson River) in lower Manhattan. The railroads operated ferries to their terminal stations on the Hudson River ...

would be built). The first steam ferry service in the world began between Paulus Hook and

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

in 1812, and the

New Jersey Rail Road and Transportation Company The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company (UNJ&CC) was a railroad company which began as the important Camden & Amboy Railroad (C&A), whose 1830 lineage began as one of the eight or ten earliest permanent North AmericanList of Earliest Am ...

opened a rail line from

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

to Paulus Hook, then part of the newly incorporated City of Jersey, in 1834. The PRR acquired the railroad in 1871 and replaced the terminal in 1876 and yet again in 1888-1892. Competition along the

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...

between New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, principally between the PRR and

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

, was fierce. These railroads both used terminals in Jersey City, there being no tunnels or bridges to Manhattan, and for much of the 19th century, Exchange Place was one of the busiest rail stations in the world. At Exchange Place passengers could move between the trains and ferries without going outside, and crossed the river on the

Jersey City Ferry The Jersey City Ferry was a major ferry service that operated between Jersey City in New Jersey and Cortlandt Street in lower Manhattan for almost 200 years (1764-1949). The ferry was notable for being the first to use steam power which began i ...

in lower Manhattan, to 34th Street in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

or via the

Desbrosses Street Ferry The Desbrosses Street Ferry was a ferry route across the Hudson River (then called the North River) in the 19th and 20th centuries. It provided passengers with ferry service between the Pennsylvania Railroad's Exchange Place station at Jersey Cit ...

which connected to the

Metropolitan Crosstown Line The Metropolitan Crosstown Line was a surface public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, United States, connecting the 14th Street Ferry and Desbrosses Street Ferry on the Hudson River with the Grand Street Ferry on the East River. It was o ...

and the

Ninth Avenue Elevated The IRT Ninth Avenue Line, often called the Ninth Avenue Elevated or Ninth Avenue El, was the first elevated railway in New York City. It opened on July 3, 1868 as the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, as an experimental single-track cable ...

at Desbrosses St. In the 1870s the PRR began exploring ways to reach New York directly ''(see New York Tunnel Extension).'' A number of realignments produced a straighter track, with the final realignment, a new passenger line from Harrison to east of the new bridge (now the PATH Lift Bridge) over the

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the subur ...

, opening in 1900. (The old freight line still exists as part of the Passaic and Harsimus Line.) In 1910 the PRR opened

New York Penn Station Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station, is the main inter-city rail, intercity railroad station in New York City and the List of busiest railway stations in North America, busiest transportation facilit ...

in Manhattan. The new station used the North River Tunnels under the Hudson River to reach New York City, enabling direct rail access to New York City from the south for the first time. Penn Station's opening led to sharply reduced PRR traffic at Exchange Place. On October 1, 1911 the

Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is a rapid transit system in the northeastern New Jersey cities of Newark, Harrison, Jersey City, and Hoboken, as well as Lower and Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is operated as a wholly owned subsid ...

, a

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

system (now called

Port Authority Trans Hudson Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is a rapid transit system in the Gateway Region, northeastern New Jersey cities of Newark, New Jersey, Newark, Harrison, New Jersey, Harrison, Jersey City, New Jersey, Jersey City, and Hoboken, New Jersey, H ...

or PATH), began running over the PRR line west of Waldo Yard, connecting with the new

Manhattan Transfer station Manhattan Transfer was a passenger station, passenger interchange station, transfer station in Harrison, New Jersey, east of Newark (New Jersey), Newark, west of New York Penn Station on the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) main line, now Amtrak's No ...

at Harrison. The

Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad built in the Northeastern United States to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Pennsylvania. The railroad was authorized on April 21, 1846 for freight and transportation of passengers, goods, w ...

, which had operated its '' Black Diamond'' train from

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

since 1896, ended service to Exchange Place in 1913. Ferry service at Exchange Place ended in 1949. The last PRR passenger train used the branch on November 17, 1961. The PATH continues to use the line through Bergen Hill to the

Journal Square Transportation Center The Journal Square Transportation Center is a multi-modal transportation hub located on Magnolia Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard at Journal Square in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States. Owned and operated by the Port Authority of New York and ...

and onward to Newark Penn Station. The Exchange Place terminal fell into disuse. The last of the buildings of the complex, along with the elevated portion of the rail line, were demolished in 1963."PRR Chronology, 1963."
June 2004 Edition. The former terminal complex is now split between the PATH system's Exchange Place station and the Harborside Financial Center, while the ferry slips have been replaced with J. Owen Grundy Waterfront Park. Hudson-Bergen Light Rail maintains two stations in the district while ferries are now served by the

Paulus Hook Ferry Terminal Exchange Place is a district of Downtown Jersey City, New Jersey that is sometimes referred to as Wall Street West due to the concentration of financial companies that have offices there. The namesake is a square, about 200 feet long, at the f ...

. The trestle carrying PRR tracks above what is now Christopher Columbus Drive between Exchange Place and Waldo Yard was removed. File:ExchangePlacePRRDepotColgateClock1920s.tiff, View from the Hudson, 1920s File:PRR(1893) Railroad Lines NEW YORK, HARBOUR.jpg, PRR route to the terminal File:(King1893NYC) pg124 PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD DEPOT, JERSEY CITY, INTERIOR OF TRAIN-HOUSE.jpg, The interior of the station's train house File:PATH original plan.png, The original

plan. Local usage eventually led both the terminal and the H&M station to be known as Exchange Place File:PRR Embankment-Waldo Yard-Exchange Place line, Jersey City at Columbus (Railroad Ave).jpg, Elevated trestle along ROW met embankment at Waldo Yard

References

External links

Exchange Place
- "Jersey City: Past and Present" (

New Jersey City University New Jersey City University (NJCU) is a public university in Jersey City, New Jersey. Originally chartered in 1927, and known as Jersey City State College for 40 years of its history, New Jersey City University consists of the School of Business, ...

)
Photo of depot as seen from the Hudson RiverJersey City Landmarks Committee: ''Harsimus Branch Embankment'' and ''Pennsylvania Main Stem Elevated''Photo of Exchange Place facing terminal and ferry slips, c. 1905PRR system map 1899Travellers description of cut 1800s
* ttp://www.worldshipny.com/elferry.shtml "November 1967 ~ The End of Trans-Cross Hudson Ferry Service, by Theodore W. Scull (World Ship Society) {{DEFAULTSORT:Exchange Place (Prr Station) Ferry terminals in New Jersey Hudson River Former railway stations in New Jersey Former Pennsylvania Railroad stations Transit hubs serving New Jersey Railway stations in the United States opened in 1834 Railway stations closed in 1961 Railway stations in Hudson County, New Jersey Transportation in Jersey City, New Jersey Demolished railway stations in the United States Frank Furness buildings 1834 establishments in New Jersey 1961 disestablishments in New Jersey Railway stations serving harbours and ports

History

See also

References

External links