The Furman Street Line was a

street railway A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

line in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

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 ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, running along Furman Street from Cobble Hill to Fulton Ferry.

History

When the

Brooklyn City Rail Road The Brooklyn City Railroad (BCRR) was the oldest and one of the largest operators of streetcars (horsecars and later trolleys) in the City of Brooklyn, New York, continuing in that role when Brooklyn became a borough of New York City in 1898. In ...

was granted franchises in 1853, one of them was through Furman Street from Atlantic Avenue north to Fulton Ferry. The City Railroad did not begin construction until late 1859; it was claimed by one side that this was only done after the

Brooklyn Central and Jamaica Railroad The Atlantic Avenue Railroad was a company in the U.S. state of New York, with a main line connecting downtown Brooklyn with Jamaica along Atlantic Avenue. It was largely a streetcar company that operated its own trains, but the Long Island Ra ...

threatened (and later received permission) to build it, and by the other side that the City Railroad had delayed until it was clear that the Central Railroad would stop using

steam propulsion A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

to South Ferry (which happened September 30, 1861). The line was opened by June 1860, and the Central Railroad also used it from their track on Atlantic Avenue, but only until September. In October, the

Board of Aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands ( wethouder) and Belgium ( schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking mem ...

decided that neither company had the right to use the tracks, since the City Railroad had been given a completion deadline of December 1, 1857, and that if the two companies did not come to an agreement within five days, the Central Railroad would have the right to operate trains in Furman Street. The City Railroad continued to operate A compromise was finally agreed to in late February 1861, in which the City Railroad would allow the Central Railroad to use the Furman Street Line, and the Central Railroad would allow the City Railroad to cross it at Furman Street and Atlantic Avenue.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''Kings County Democrat'', later ''The Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' before shortening title further to ''Brooklyn Eagle'') was an afternoon daily newspaper published in the city ...

, The Railroad Difficulty Settled, March 18, 1861, page 3

References

{{Brooklyn streetcar lines Streetcar lines in Brooklyn 1860 establishments in New York (state)