Exchange Place station (Pennsylvania Railroad): Difference between revisions

Jersey City
Jersey City
	Pennsylvania Railroad's Jersey City Station, 1893
General information
Coordinates	40°42′59″N 74°01′57″W / 40.71648°N 74.03238°W
Operated by	Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR)
Connections
History
Opened	1834
Closed	1961
Former services

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Latest revision as of 20:31, 30 September 2024

The Pennsylvania Railroad Station was the intermodal passenger terminal for the Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) vast holdings on the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay in Jersey City, New Jersey. By the 1920s the station was called Exchange Place. The rail terminal and its ferry slips were the main New York City station for the railroad until the opening in 1910 of New York Pennsylvania Station, made possible by the construction of the North River Tunnels. It was one of the busiest stations in the world for much of the 19th century.

The terminal was on Paulus Hook, which in 1812 became the landing of the first steam ferry service in the world, and to which rail service began in 1834. Train service to the station ended in November 1961 and demolition of the complex was completed in 1963. Part of the former terminal complex is now the PATH system's Exchange Place Station while the Harborside Financial Center was built upon part of the old site.

The station was one of five passenger railroad terminals on the western shore of the Hudson River during the 19th and 20th centuries, the others being Weehawken, Hoboken, Pavonia, and Communipaw, with Hoboken being the only station still in use.

The PRR referred to the location simply as "Jersey City," and if necessary to distinguish it from other railroads' terminals, as the Pennsylvania station.

History

Hoboken (DL&W)

Pavonia (Erie)

Map of the five train-to-ferry transfer points along the west shore of the Hudson River circa 1900

As early as July 1764^[1] a ferry began operating from Paulus Hook to the foot of Courtland Street (where Cortland Street Ferry Depot would be built).^[2] The first steam ferry service in the world began between Paulus Hook and Manhattan in 1812,^[3] and the New Jersey Rail Road and Transportation Company opened a rail line from Newark to Paulus Hook, then part of the newly incorporated City of Jersey, in 1834.^[4] The PRR acquired the railroad in 1871 and replaced the terminal in 1876 and yet again in 1888-1892.^[5] Competition along the Northeast Corridor between New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, principally between the PRR and Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, was fierce. These railroads both used terminals in Jersey City, there being no tunnels or bridges to Manhattan, and for much of the 19th century, Exchange Place was one of the busiest rail stations in the world.

At Exchange Place passengers could move between the trains and ferries without going outside, and crossed the river on the Jersey City Ferry to Cortland Street Ferry Depot in lower Manhattan, to 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan or via the Desbrosses Street Ferry which connected to the Metropolitan Crosstown Line and the Ninth Avenue Elevated at Desbrosses St.^[6] Another ferry to the Fulton Ferry slip in Brooklyn also existed.^[7]

In the 1870s the PRR began exploring ways to reach New York directly (see New York Tunnel Extension). A number of realignments produced a straighter track, with the final realignment, a new passenger line from Harrison to east of the new bridge (now the PATH Lift Bridge) over the Hackensack River, opening in 1900.^[8] (The old freight line still exists as part of the Passaic and Harsimus Line.)

In 1910 the PRR opened New York Penn Station in Manhattan. The new station used the North River Tunnels under the Hudson River to reach New York City, enabling direct rail access to New York City from the south for the first time. Penn Station's opening led to sharply reduced PRR traffic at Exchange Place. On October 1, 1911 the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad, a rapid transit system (now called Port Authority Trans Hudson or PATH), began running over the PRR line west of Waldo Yard, connecting with the new Manhattan Transfer station at Harrison.^[9] The Lehigh Valley Railroad, which had operated its Black Diamond train from Buffalo, New York since 1896, ended service to Exchange Place in 1913.^[10] Ferry service at Exchange Place ended in 1949. The last PRR passenger train used the branch on November 17, 1961.^[11]^[12] The PATH continues to use the line through Bergen Hill to the Journal Square Transportation Center and onward to Newark Penn Station.

The Exchange Place terminal fell into disuse.^[13] The last of the buildings of the complex, along with the elevated portion of the rail line, were demolished in 1963.^[14] The former terminal complex is now split between the PATH system's Exchange Place station and the Harborside Financial Center, while the ferry slips have been replaced with J. Owen Grundy Waterfront Park. Hudson-Bergen Light Rail maintains two stations in the district while ferries are now served by the Paulus Hook Ferry Terminal. The trestle carrying PRR tracks above what is now Christopher Columbus Drive between Exchange Place and Waldo Yard was removed.

View from the Hudson, 1920s
PRR route to the terminal
The interior of the station's train house
The original Hudson and Manhattan Railroad plan. Local usage eventually led both the terminal and the H&M station to be known as Exchange Place
Elevated trestle along ROW met embankment at Waldo Yard

References

^ 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
^ 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
^ 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.
^ "PRR Chronology, 1834." June 2004 Edition.
^ Condit, Carl (1980). The Port of New York. A History of the Rail and Terminal System from the Beginnings to Pennsylvania Station (Volume 1). University of Chicago Press. pp. 46–52, 152–168. ISBN 978-0-226-11460-6.
^ Cudahy, Brian J. (1990). Over and Back: The History of Ferryboats in New York Harbor. New York: Fordham University Press. p. 72. ISBN 0-8232-1245-9.
^ New map of New York City - from the latest surveys showing all the ferries and steamship docks, elevated, cable, and cross town car lines -- 1890 (Brooks Bank Note Co.; Broadway Central Hotel; New York, N.Y.)
^ "PRR Chronology, 1900." March 2005 Edition.
^ "PRR Chronology, 1911." March 2005 Edition.
^ "The 'Black Diamond' on the Lehigh". Railway and Locomotive Engineering. 20 (12). New York: Angus Sinclair Co.: 525 1907.
^ "PRR Chronology, 1961." June 2004 Edition.
^ "JERSEY CITY DEPOT CLOSED BY PENNSY; Trains to Exchange Plac Will Now Come Here". The New York Times. November 18, 1961. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
^ Cudahy, Brian J. (2002), Rails Under the Mighty Hudson (2nd ed.), New York: Fordham University Press, p. 54, ISBN 978-0-82890-257-1, OCLC 911046235
^ "PRR Chronology, 1963." June 2004 Edition.

External links

[1] 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

[2] 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

[3] 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.

[4] "PRR Chronology, 1834." June 2004 Edition.

[5] Condit, Carl (1980). The Port of New York. A History of the Rail and Terminal System from the Beginnings to Pennsylvania Station (Volume 1). University of Chicago Press. pp. 46–52, 152–168. ISBN 978-0-226-11460-6.

[6] Cudahy, Brian J. (1990). Over and Back: The History of Ferryboats in New York Harbor. New York: Fordham University Press. p. 72. ISBN 0-8232-1245-9.

[7] New map of New York City - from the latest surveys showing all the ferries and steamship docks, elevated, cable, and cross town car lines -- 1890 (Brooks Bank Note Co.; Broadway Central Hotel; New York, N.Y.)

[8] "PRR Chronology, 1900." March 2005 Edition.

[9] "PRR Chronology, 1911." March 2005 Edition.

[10] "The 'Black Diamond' on the Lehigh". Railway and Locomotive Engineering. 20 (12). New York: Angus Sinclair Co.: 525 1907.

[11] "PRR Chronology, 1961." June 2004 Edition.

[12] "JERSEY CITY DEPOT CLOSED BY PENNSY; Trains to Exchange Plac Will Now Come Here". The New York Times. November 18, 1961. Retrieved May 26, 2018.

[13] Cudahy, Brian J. (2002), Rails Under the Mighty Hudson (2nd ed.), New York: Fordham University Press, p. 54, ISBN 978-0-82890-257-1, OCLC 911046235

[14] "PRR Chronology, 1963." June 2004 Edition.

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@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 | symbol              =
 | style               = Pennsylvania Railroad
+<!-- | type                = {{plainlist|
+*[[Train station#Terminus|Passenger Railroad Terminal]], [[Ferry Terminal]]
+*[[Car float|Car float facility]], [[Rail yard|Yard]]}} -->
 | image               = (King1893NYC) pg123 PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD, JERSEY-CITY STATION.jpg
 | alt                 = sketch of vast station building and feryy operation
@@ Line 25: / Line 28: @@
 | parking             =
 | bicycle             =
-| disabled            =
+| accessible            =
 | code                =
 | zone                =
@@ Line 45: / Line 48: @@
 }}
-The '''Pennsylvania Railroad Station''' was the [[Intermodal passenger transport|intermodal]] passenger terminal for the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]'s (PRR) vast holdings on the [[North River (Hudson River)|Hudson River]] and [[Upper New York Bay]] in [[Jersey City, New Jersey]]. By the 1920s the station was called '''Exchange Place'''.  The rail terminal and its [[ferry slip]]s were the main New York City station for the railroad until the opening in 1910 of [[Pennsylvania Station (1910–1963)|New York Pennsylvania Station]], made possible by the construction of the [[North River Tunnels]]. It was one of the busiest stations in the world for much of the 19th century.
+The '''Pennsylvania Railroad Station''' was the [[Intermodal passenger transport|intermodal]] passenger terminal for the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]'s (PRR) vast holdings on the [[North River (Hudson River)|Hudson River]] and [[Upper New York Bay]] in [[Jersey City, New Jersey]]. By the 1920s the station was called '''Exchange Place'''. The rail terminal and its [[ferry slip]]s were the main New York City station for the railroad until the opening in 1910 of [[Pennsylvania Station (1910–1963)|New York Pennsylvania Station]], made possible by the construction of the [[North River Tunnels]]. It was one of the busiest stations in the world for much of the 19th century.
 The terminal was on [[Paulus Hook]], which in 1812 became the landing of the first steam ferry service in the world, and to which rail service began in 1834. Train service to the station ended in November 1961 and demolition of the complex was completed in 1963. Part of the former terminal complex is now the [[PATH (rail system)|PATH]] system's [[Exchange Place (PATH station)|Exchange Place Station]] while the [[Harborside Financial Center]] was built upon part of the old site.
 The station was one of five passenger railroad terminals on the western shore of the [[Hudson River]] during the 19th and 20th centuries, the others being [[Weehawken Terminal|Weehawken]], [[Hoboken Terminal|Hoboken]], [[Pavonia Terminal|Pavonia]], and [[Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal|Communipaw]], with Hoboken being the only station still in use.
 The PRR referred to the location simply as "Jersey City," and if necessary to distinguish it from other railroads' terminals, as the Pennsylvania station.
@@ Line 55: / Line 58: @@
 ==History==
 {{NJ Hudson River terminals|exchange-place=y|width=300px|float=left}}
 As early as July 1764<ref>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</ref> a ferry began operating from [[Paulus Hook, Jersey City|Paulus Hook]] to the foot of Courtland Street (where [[Cortland Street Ferry Depot]] would be built).<ref>''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</ref> The first steam ferry service in the world began between Paulus Hook and [[Manhattan]] in 1812,<ref>
 {{cite book |title=Over and Back: The History of Ferryboats in New York Harbor |last=Cudahy |first=Brian J. |year=1990 |publisher=Fordham University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-8232-1245-9 |pages=20–24, 360, 362 }}</ref> and the [[New Jersey Rail Road and Transportation Company]] opened a rail line from [[Newark, NJ|Newark]] to Paulus Hook, then part of the newly incorporated [[Jersey City, New Jersey|City of Jersey]], in 1834.<ref>[http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1834%20June%2004.wd.pdf "PRR Chronology, 1834."] June 2004 Edition.</ref> The PRR acquired the railroad in 1871 and replaced the terminal in 1876 and yet again in 1888-1892.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Port of New York. A History of the Rail and Terminal System from the Beginnings to Pennsylvania Station (Volume 1) |last=Condit |first=Carl |year=1980 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-11460-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/portofnewyork0000cond/page/46 46–52,152–168] |url=https://archive.org/details/portofnewyork0000cond/page/46 }}</ref> Competition along the [[Northeast Corridor]] between New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, principally between the PRR and [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]], was fierce. These railroads both used terminals in Jersey City, there being no tunnels or bridges to Manhattan, and for much of the 19th century, Exchange Place was one of the busiest rail stations in the world.
-At Exchange Place passengers could move between the trains and ferries without going outside, and crossed the river on the [[Jersey City Ferry]] to [[Cortland Street Ferry Depot]] in lower Manhattan, to [[34th Street (Manhattan)|34th Street]] in [[Midtown Manhattan]] or via the [[Desbrosses Street Ferry]] which connected to the [[Metropolitan Crosstown Line]] and the [[IRT Ninth Avenue Line|Ninth Avenue Elevated]] at [[Desbrosses Street (IRT Ninth Avenue Line)|Desbrosses St.]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Over and Back: The History of Ferryboats in New York Harbor |last=Cudahy |first=Brian J. |year=1990 |publisher=Fordham University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-8232-1245-9 |pages=72 }}</ref>
+At Exchange Place passengers could move between the trains and ferries without going outside, and crossed the river on the [[Jersey City Ferry]] to [[Cortland Street Ferry Depot]] in lower Manhattan, to [[34th Street (Manhattan)|34th Street]] in [[Midtown Manhattan]] or via the [[Desbrosses Street Ferry]] which connected to the [[Metropolitan Crosstown Line]] and the [[IRT Ninth Avenue Line|Ninth Avenue Elevated]] at [[Desbrosses Street (IRT Ninth Avenue Line)|Desbrosses St.]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Over and Back: The History of Ferryboats in New York Harbor |last=Cudahy |first=Brian J. |year=1990 |publisher=Fordham University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-8232-1245-9 |pages=72 }}</ref> Another ferry to the [[Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn|Fulton Ferry slip]] in Brooklyn also existed.<ref>[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_map_of_New_York_City_-_from_the_latest_surveys_showing_all_the_ferries_and_steamship_docks,_elevated,_cable,_and_cross_town_car_lines_LOC_2003630444.jpg New map of New York City - from the latest surveys showing all the ferries and steamship docks, elevated, cable, and cross town car lines -- 1890 (Brooks Bank Note Co.; Broadway Central Hotel; New York, N.Y.)]</ref>
 In the 1870s the PRR began exploring ways to reach New York directly ''(see [[New York Tunnel Extension]]).'' A number of realignments produced a straighter track, with the final realignment, a new passenger line from [[Harrison, New Jersey|Harrison]] to east of the new bridge (now the [[PATH Lift Bridge]]) over the [[Hackensack River]], opening in 1900.<ref>[http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1900%20Mar%2005.pdf "PRR Chronology, 1900."] March 2005 Edition.</ref> (The old freight line still exists as part of the [[Passaic and Harsimus Line]].)
-In 1910 the PRR opened [[Pennsylvania Station (1910-1963)|New York Penn Station]] in Manhattan. The new station used the North River Tunnels under the Hudson River to reach New York City from the south for the first time. Penn Station's opening led to reduced PRR traffic at Exchange Place. On October 1, 1911 the [[Hudson and Manhattan Railroad]], a [[rapid transit]] system (now called [[Port Authority Trans Hudson]] or PATH), began running over the PRR line west of Waldo Yard, connecting with the new [[Manhattan Transfer station]] at Harrison.<ref>[http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1911%20Mar%2005.pdf "PRR Chronology, 1911."] March 2005 Edition.</ref> The [[Lehigh Valley Railroad]], which had operated its ''[[Black Diamond (train)|Black Diamond]]'' train from [[Buffalo, New York]] since 1896, ended service to Exchange Place in 1913.<ref>{{cite journal |year=1907 |title=The 'Black Diamond' on the Lehigh |journal=Railway and Locomotive Engineering |volume=20 |issue=12 |pages=525 |publisher=Angus Sinclair Co. |location=New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KP1KAAAAYAAJ&q=black+diamond+lehigh+valley&pg=PA525 }}</ref> Ferry service at Exchange Place ended in 1949. The last PRR passenger train used the branch on November 17, 1961.<ref>[http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1961%20June%2004.wd.pdf "PRR Chronology, 1961."] June 2004 Edition.</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=JERSEY CITY DEPOT CLOSED BY PENNSY; Trains to Exchange Plac Will Now Come Here | website=The New York Times | date=November 18, 1961 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/11/18/archives/jersey-city-depot-closed-by-pennsy-trains-to-exchange-plac-will-now.html | access-date=May 26, 2018}}</ref> The PATH continues to use the line through [[Bergen Hill]] to the [[Journal Square Transportation Center]] and onward to [[Newark Penn Station]].
+In 1910 the PRR opened [[Pennsylvania Station (1910-1963)|New York Penn Station]] in Manhattan. The new station used the North River Tunnels under the Hudson River to reach New York City, enabling direct rail access to New York City from the south for the first time. Penn Station's opening led to sharply reduced PRR traffic at Exchange Place. On October 1, 1911 the [[Hudson and Manhattan Railroad]], a [[rapid transit]] system (now called [[Port Authority Trans Hudson]] or PATH), began running over the PRR line west of Waldo Yard, connecting with the new [[Manhattan Transfer station]] at Harrison.<ref>[http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1911%20Mar%2005.pdf "PRR Chronology, 1911."] March 2005 Edition.</ref> The [[Lehigh Valley Railroad]], which had operated its ''[[Black Diamond (train)|Black Diamond]]'' train from [[Buffalo, New York]] since 1896, ended service to Exchange Place in 1913.<ref>{{cite journal |year=1907 |title=The 'Black Diamond' on the Lehigh |journal=Railway and Locomotive Engineering |volume=20 |issue=12 |pages=525 |publisher=Angus Sinclair Co. |location=New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KP1KAAAAYAAJ&q=black+diamond+lehigh+valley&pg=PA525 }}</ref> Ferry service at Exchange Place ended in 1949. The last PRR passenger train used the branch on November 17, 1961.<ref>[http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1961%20June%2004.wd.pdf "PRR Chronology, 1961."] June 2004 Edition.</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=JERSEY CITY DEPOT CLOSED BY PENNSY; Trains to Exchange Plac Will Now Come Here | website=The New York Times | date=November 18, 1961 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/11/18/archives/jersey-city-depot-closed-by-pennsy-trains-to-exchange-plac-will-now.html | access-date=May 26, 2018}}</ref> The PATH continues to use the line through [[Bergen Hill]] to the [[Journal Square Transportation Center]] and onward to [[Newark Penn Station]].
 The Exchange Place terminal fell into disuse.<ref>{{Cudahy-Hudson|page=54}}</ref> The last of the buildings of the complex, along with the [[elevated railway|elevated]] portion of the rail line, were demolished in 1963.<ref>[http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1963%20June%2004.wd.pdf "PRR Chronology, 1963."] June 2004 Edition.</ref> The former terminal complex is now split between the PATH system's Exchange Place station and the Harborside Financial Center, while the ferry slips have been replaced with [[J. Owen Grundy]] Waterfront Park. [[Hudson-Bergen Light Rail]] maintains two stations in the district while ferries are now served by the [[Paulus Hook Ferry Terminal]]. The trestle carrying PRR tracks above what is now Christopher Columbus Drive between Exchange Place and Waldo Yard was removed.
 <gallery mode=packed heights=150>
@@ Line 77: / Line 81: @@
 *{{section link|Exchange Place (Jersey City)|History}}
 *[[Exchange Place station (Hudson–Bergen Light Rail)]]
+*[[Exchange Place station (PATH)]]
-*[[Greenville Yard]] (Port Jersey)
 *[[Harsimus Stem Embankment]]
 *[[List of ferries across the Hudson River to New York City]]
@@ Line 94: / Line 98: @@
 *[https://books.google.com/books?id=LkXXZfRFRM0C&pg=PA116 Travellers description of cut 1800s]
 *[http://railroadpostcards.blogspot.com/2015/10/pennsylvania-railroad-ferries-jersey.html Pennsylvania Railroad Ferries, Jersey City, New Jersey (National Railroad Postcard Museum; Thursday, October 15, 2015)]
-*[http://www.worldshipny.com/elferry.shtml "November 1967 ~ The End of Trans-Cross Hudson Ferry Service, by Theodore W. Scull (World Ship Society)]
+*[http://www.worldshipny.com/elferry.shtml "November 1967 ~ The End of Trans-Cross Hudson Ferry Service, by Theodore W. Scull (World Ship Society)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113062950/http://www.worldshipny.com/elferry.shtml |date=2019-01-13 }}
 {{PRR Main Line stations}}{{NYC terminals}}
@@ Line 107: / Line 111: @@
 [[Category:Transit hubs serving New Jersey]]
 [[Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1834]]
-[[Category:Railway stations closed in 1961]]
 [[Category:Railway stations in Hudson County, New Jersey]]
 [[Category:Transportation in Jersey City, New Jersey]]
@@ Line 115: / Line 118: @@
 [[Category:1961 disestablishments in New Jersey]]
 [[Category:Railway stations serving harbours and ports]]
+[[Category:Railway stations in the United States closed in 1961]]

v t e Major railroad stations in New York City and Northern New Jersey
Active terminals	Atlantic Terminal Grand Central Madison Grand Central Terminal Hoboken Terminal Long Island City New York Penn Station
Major transfer stations	Jamaica Newark Broad Street Newark Penn Station Secaucus Junction
Historical terminals	Communipaw Exchange Place Manhattan Transfer Pennsylvania Station (1910–1963) Pavonia Weehawken

Latest revision as of 20:31, 30 September 2024

History

See also

References

External links