The Pennsylvania Railroad Station was the intermodal passenger terminal for the Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) vast holdings on the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

and

Upper New York Bay New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay ...

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

. By the 1920s the station was called Exchange Place. The rail terminal and its ferry slips were the main New York City station for the railroad until the opening in 1910 of New York Pennsylvania Station, 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, 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 system's Exchange Place Station while the Harborside Financial Center 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 (New Jersey), township in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking ...

, 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 Paulus Hook to the foot of Courtland Street (where Cortland Street Ferry Depot would be built). The first steam ferry service in the world began between Paulus Hook and

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

in 1812, and the New Jersey Rail Road and Transportation Company opened a rail line from Newark 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 in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...

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

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

, 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 in ...

to Cortland Street Ferry Depot in lower Manhattan, to 34th Street in

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

or via the Desbrosses Street Ferry which connected to the Metropolitan Crosstown Line and the Ninth Avenue Elevated at Desbrosses St. Another ferry to the Fulton Ferry slip in Brooklyn also existed. 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, 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 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, a

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...

system (now called Port Authority Trans Hudson or PATH), began running over the PRR line west of Waldo Yard, connecting with the new Manhattan Transfer station at Harrison. The Lehigh Valley Railroad, which had operated its '' Black Diamond'' train from

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

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 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. 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 Hudson and Manhattan Railroad 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) *
Jersey 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 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 Railway stations in the United States closed in 1961

History

See also

References

External links