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 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 and Penn Station 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 until this service was also discontinued in 1967. In 1986 ferry service was revived and today it is operated by New York Waterway.[1]

The New Brunswick one of the Pennsylvania Railroad's ferries across the Hudson, ca. 1905

History
Map from 1847 showing the Jersey City Ferry's route as well as several Hoboken ferry services.

While the Communipaw ferry dated back to 1661 during the Dutch colonial period in New Amsterdam,[2] the Jersey City ferry, then called the Paulus Hook ferry, began in July 1764[3] and operated from Paulus Hook to Mesier's dock at the foot of Courtland Street (where Cortland Street Ferry Depot would later be built).[4] 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.[5]

The first steam ferry service in the world began in 1812 between Paulus Hook and Manhattan[6] and reduced the journey time to a then remarkable 14 minutes[7] (today's service is scheduled to take 13 minutes[8]).

In 1834 a railroad station was built at Paulus Hook and on October 14, 1836 the Morris and Essex Railroad began operating services to Newark and points west from the station.[9] 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 North River Tunnels and Penn Station 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 of the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (now PATH) as a form of direct travel.

References
  1. "Paulus Hook". nywaterway.com. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  2. Railroad Ferries of the Hudson: And Stories of a Deckhand, by, Raymond J. Baxter, Arthur G. Adams, pg. 46 ,1999, Fordham University Press, 978-0823219544
  3. History of the County of Hudson, New Jersey: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Charles Hardenburg Winfield, pg. 243-246, Kennard & Hay Stationery M'fg and Print. Company, 1874
  4. 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
  5. History of the County of Hudson, New Jersey: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Charles Hardenburg Winfield, pg. 243-250, Kennard & Hay Stationery M'fg and Print. Company, 1874
  6. Cudahy, Brian J. (1990). Over and Back: The History of Ferryboats in New York Harbor. New York: Fordham University Press. pp. 20–24, 360, 362. ISBN 0-8232-1245-9.
  7. History of the County of Hudson, New Jersey: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Charles Hardenburg Winfield, pg. 250, Kennard & Hay Stationery M'fg and Print. Company, 1874
  8. "Paulas Hook". nywaterway.com.
  9. 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
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