The Furman Street Line was a

street railway 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 ...

line in

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 ...

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, 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. I ...

was granted

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s 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 R ...

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 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. This pushing force can be trans ...

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. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

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 :''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 ...

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

References

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