Liberty Street Ferry Terminal

The original Liberty Street Ferry Terminal served as a crucial gateway to Manhattan for over three hundred years, beginning with a ferry route established in sixteen sixty-one. By the late nineteenth century, it became the primary Manhattan landing for the Central Railroad of New Jersey, which transported passengers from its massive Communipaw Terminal in Jersey City across the Hudson River. This terminal was the lifeblood of a sprawling transit network, acting as the final link for commuters traveling on the Baltimore and Ohio, Reading, and Lehigh Valley railroads. Its importance waned as newer tunnels and bridges lured travelers away, and the final ferry departed from its slip just after midnight on April thirtieth, nineteen sixty-seven. Following this departure, the terminal was demolished and the riverfront was filled in to create the land that now forms Battery Park City.