The Port Johnston Coal Docks were built on the

Kill van Kull __NOTOC__ The Kill Van Kull is a tidal strait between Staten Island, New York (state), New York, and Bayonne, New Jersey, Bayonne, New Jersey, in the United States. It is approximately long and wide and connects Newark Bay with Upper New York ...

at Constable Hook in

Bayonne, New Jersey Bayonne ( ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey, in the Gateway Region on Bergen Neck, a peninsula between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York ...

in 1864 by the

Central Railroad of New Jersey Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

. The coal dock was named after the company's president John Taylor Johnston. (The former Johnston Yard and today's Johnston Avenue also bear his name). At the time of its completion in 1866, it was the largest coal dock in the world and employed 200 men, mostly Irish immigrants. Their job was to empty coal from railroad cars onto barges for shipment across

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 ...

to New York. On July 26, 1877, the first full-scale strike occurred in Bayonne at the Port Johnston Coal Docks when workers walked off the job. The Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal Company, who had bought the coal docks from the Central Railroad of New Jersey in 1876, had cut the wages of the workers in an effort to save money. The Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal Company promptly fired all of the workers and brought in German immigrants from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to work. A threat of a riot was averted with the intervention of Bayonne Mayor Henry Meigs, Jr. and Father Thomas Killeen of St. Mary's Church. After working a day at the lower wages, the German immigrants decided it was not worthwhile and quit. By early August, Meigs had worked out a solution with the company that ended the strike peacefully. Port Johnston was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp for Italian soldiers during WW2. The tank farms and marine transfer operations around Port Johnston have been operated by Gordon Terminal Service since 1966.

References

{{coord, 40.651, -74.115, type:landmark_region:US-NJ, display=title Bayonne, New Jersey Docks (maritime) History of New Jersey Central Railroad of New Jersey Ports and harbors of New Jersey Historic districts in Hudson County, New Jersey Port of New York and New Jersey Piers in New Jersey 1864 establishments in New Jersey