| What makes it historical? |
As the Central Railroad of New Jersey took shape between 1838 and 1852, it became apparent that there needed to be some kind of grand entrance to the rail line stretching from Jersey City to Phillipsburg! Using landfill and the ballast of ocean vessels as the base, the Elizabeth and Somerville Railroad Company constructed this terminal on the edge of New York Harbor. Traffic increased dramatically, and by 1889, the terminal underwent a makeover!
Once nearby Ellis Island opened in 1892, this terminal became the gateway to a new life for immigrants, who had passed all their screenings and made it to the mainland! 30,000-50,000 people passed through here every day at the turn of the century, and the train shed built to accommodate them, at 20 tracks, was the largest ever built!
With the rising popularity of highways and automobiles at the end of the 1920s, traffic at this terminal dropped. By April 1967, the Central Railroad of New Jersey declared bankruptcy, and all its traffic got routed through Pennsylvania instead. It sat in disrepair for eight years before being renovated to the visitor center and ferry hub that it is today! |
