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

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and Cortlandt Street in

lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

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.

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 to Mesier's dock at the foot of Courtland Street (where Cortland Street Ferry Depot 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. In 1804, the Associates of the Jersey Company was formed to operate the ferries. This company was leased by the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company (and by extension the Pennsylvania Railroad) in 1875, making it the oldest corporation in the PRR proper. The first steam ferry service in the world began in 1812 between Paulus Hook and

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

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 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 North River Tunnels and Penn Station in 1910, passengers increasingly opted to avoid using Exchange Place Terminal and the ferry's passenger traffic declined. Service to West 32nd Street ended the same year, and service to Desbrosses street ended in 1932. 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

{{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