Detroit Publishing - Pennsylvania Railroad ferry New Brunswick

The Jersey City Ferry was a major ferry service that operated between Jersey City in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

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 1812. The ferry's history was closely tied to the Pennsylvania Railroad's station in Jersey City at Exchange Place, which gradually fell into disuse after the railroad opened the

North River Tunnels The North River Tunnels are a pair of rail tunnels that carry Amtrak and New Jersey Transit passenger lines under the Hudson River between Weehawken, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Built between 1904 ...

and

Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinc ...

in 1910. Ferry service from lower Manhattan to Jersey City continued via the even older Communipaw ferry which operated from the adjacent

Liberty Street Ferry Terminal Liberty Street Ferry Terminal or Liberty Street Terminal was the Central Railroad of New Jersey's passenger ferry slip in lower Manhattan, New York City and the point of departure and embarkation for passengers travelling on the Central Railroad of ...

until this service was also discontinued in 1967. In 1986 ferry service was revived and today it is operated by

New York Waterway NY Waterway (or New York Waterway) is a private transportation company running ferry and bus service in the Port of New York and New Jersey and in the Hudson Valley. The company utilizes public-private partnership with agencies such as the Port ...

History

While the Communipaw ferry dated back to 1661 during the Dutch colonial period in New Amsterdam, the Jersey City ferry, then called the Paulus Hook ferry, began in July 1764 and operated from

Paulus Hook Paulus Hook is a community on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.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 Rive ...

would later be built). Almost immediately and for several decades subsequently, a complicated series of legal battles broke out over who should operate the ferry, where the crossing(s) should be located and at what rate passengers and other cargo should be charged for the journey. The first steam ferry service in the world began in 1812 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 ...

and reduced the journey time to a then remarkable 14 minutes (today's service is scheduled to take 13 minutes). In 1834 a railroad station was built at Paulus Hook and on October 14, 1836 the

Morris and Essex Railroad The Morris and Essex Railroad was a railroad across northern New Jersey, later part of the main line of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. History The M&E was incorporated January 29, 1835, to build a line from Newark in Essex Co ...

began operating services to Newark and points west from the station.''Railroad Ferries of the Hudson: And Stories of a Deckhand'', by, Raymond J. Baxter, Arthur G. Adams, pg. 64 ,1999, Fordham University Press, 978-0823219544 Subsequent expansions of rail service led to an ever increasing demand for the ferry's passenger and cargo service during the 19th century. Upon completion of the

and

in 1910, passengers increasingly opted to avoid using Exchange Place Terminal and the ferry's passenger traffic declined. In 1949 the final ferry service was made and passengers wanting to travel from Exchange Place to lower Manhattan were left with only the

Downtown Hudson Tubes The Downtown Hudson Tubes (formerly the Cortlandt Street Tunnel) are a pair of tunnels that carry PATH trains under the Hudson River in the United States, between New York City to the east and Jersey City, New Jersey, to the west. The tunnel ...

of the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (now

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 ...

) as a form of direct travel.

References

{{reflist 1764 establishments in New Jersey Companies established in 1764 Transport companies established in 1764 Ferries of New Jersey Ferries of New York City Ferry companies of New Jersey Ferry companies of New York City Water transportation in New York City Transportation in Jersey City, New Jersey