The Gouverneur Street Ferry was a

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

route connecting

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 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, with the city of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, by joining Manhattan's Gouverneur Street to Brooklyn's Bridge Street across the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...

History

The ferry, originally the Walnut Street Ferry and later the Jackson Street Ferry or Hudson Avenue Ferry, was established on December 1, 1817. The route originally connected Manhattan's Walnut Street (now called Jackson Street, just west of

Corlear's Hook The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

) with Brooklyn's Little Street (later named Jackson Street, just east of today's Hudson Avenue and west of the

Brooklyn Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a semicircular bend ...

). At some point, the Manhattan landing was moved two blocks west, to Gouverneur Street, driving the name change to Gouverneur Street Ferry. Smith & Bulkley gained control by May 1852, and, effective May 23, 1853, the Brooklyn side was moved two blocks west, from Hudson Avenue to Bridge Street. Being unable to compete with the one-cent fare adopted by the

Brooklyn Union Ferry Company The Union Ferry Company of Brooklyn, commonly known as the Union Ferry Company, was a ferry company operating routes across the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York City, United States. History The New York and Brooklyn Union Ferry C ...

in November 1850, it was sold to the new Union Ferry Company of Brooklyn (the successor to the Brooklyn Union) in December 1853. The lease expired on September 12, 1856, but the company continued to operate the ferry. They petitioned the

City of New York 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 Un ...

to abandon the

Roosevelt Street Ferry The Roosevelt Street Ferry was a ferry route connecting Manhattan and Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, United States, joining Roosevelt Street (Manhattan) and Broadway (Brooklyn) across the East River. History The ferry was established on A ...

, in exchange for continuing Gouverneur Street operations and expanding the Manhattan landing. The city refused, and operations ended in January 1857. A new ferry, known as the Navy Yard Ferry or Hudson Avenue Ferry, was established on July 8, 1859 between Jackson Street in Manhattan and Hudson Avenue in Brooklyn, almost exactly where the original Walnut Street Ferry ran in 1817. The

Hudson Avenue Railroad Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson R ...

opened a

streetcar line A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

from the ferry to Prospect Park in late 1867. The ferry shut down in early June 1868, leading the railroad to move its line to the Bridge Street Ferry.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle :''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently'' The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...

, Travel, August 18, 1868, page 1

References

{{reflist East River Ferries of New York City