Perth Amboy Ferry Slip | |
Location | Foot of Smith Street Perth Amboy, New Jersey |
---|---|
Coordinates | 40°30′25″N74°15′43″W / 40.50694°N 74.26194°W Coordinates: 40°30′25″N74°15′43″W / 40.50694°N 74.26194°W |
Built | 1904 |
NRHP reference No. | 78001773 [1] |
NJRHP No. | 1898 [2] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | January 12, 1981 |
Designated NJRHP | July 12, 1978 |
The Perth Amboy Ferry Slip, located on the Arthur Kill in Perth Amboy, Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, was once a vital ferry slip for boats in New York Harbor. It was added to the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The ferry slip was restored in 1998 to its 1904 appearance. A replica of the ticket office has been constructed and is used as a small museum. [3] [4]
Perth Amboy is located at the mouth of the Raritan River at the Raritan Bay, an arm of the Lower New York Bay. Perth Amboy served as New Jersey's capital from 1686 until 1776. In 1684, it became the capital of East Jersey and remained so after the union of East and West Jersey in 1702, becoming an alternate colonial capital with Burlington until 1776. [5] Ferry service at the site dates back to 1684. During the colonial era and for a long thereafter, Perth Amboy was an important way-station for travel between New York City and Philadelphia, providing the waterways used by the ferry service originally set up by Cornelius Vanderbilt, who later became known as "The Commodore". The slip was later used to transport newly arrived immigrants from Ellis Island, many of whom remained in the town. [6]
The native Lenape provided crossings to settlers as early as 1680. [7] The longest-running ferry service crossed the Arthur Kill to Tottenville, Staten Island, with regular service beginning in 1709 [3] or 1719 operated by Christopher Billopp. [8] [9] Steam service was introduced in the late 19th century by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and ran until 1943, [10] [11] and was served by the Staten Island Railway at the Tottenville station. In the early motoring age the ferry was an important link for travelers to the Jersey Shore [12] It became less important with the 1928 opening of the Outerbridge Crossing, but continued operating until October 17, 1963. [13]
Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 55,436, an increase of 4,622 (+9.1%) from the 2010 census count of 50,814, which in turn reflected an increase of 3,511 (+7.4%) from the 47,303 counted in the 2000 census. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, the Hispanic population made up 78.1% of the population, the second-highest in the state, behind Union City at 84.7%. Perth Amboy is known as the "City by the Bay", referring to its location adjoining Raritan Bay. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 55,291 in 2021, ranking the city as the 719th-most-populous in the country.
The Province of East Jersey, along with the Province of West Jersey, between 1674 and 1702 in accordance with the Quintipartite Deed, were two distinct political divisions of the Province of New Jersey, which became the U.S. state of New Jersey. The two provinces were amalgamated in 1702. East Jersey's capital was located at Perth Amboy. Determination of an exact location for a border between West Jersey and East Jersey was often a matter of dispute.
The Arthur Kill is a tidal strait in the New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary between Staten Island, New York and Union and Middlesex counties, New Jersey. It is a major navigational channel of the Port of New York and New Jersey.
Raritan Bay is a bay located at the southern portion of Lower New York Bay between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey and is part of the New York Bight. The bay is bounded on the northwest by New York's Staten Island, on the west by Perth Amboy, New Jersey, on the south by the Raritan Bayshore communities in the New Jersey counties of Middlesex and Monmouth, and on the east by Sandy Hook Bay. The bay is named after the Raritans, a branch of the Lenape tribe who lived in the vicinity of the bay and its river for thousands of years, prior to the arrival of Dutch and English colonists in the 17th century.
Tottenville is a neighborhood on the South Shore of Staten Island, New York City. It is the southernmost settlement in both New York City and New York State. Tottenville is bounded on three sides by water: the south side abuts the New York Bight while the west and north sides are bordered by the Arthur Kill. Nassau Place, Bethel Avenue and Page Avenue form the neighborhood's eastern border.
The New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary, also known as the Hudson-Raritan Estuary, is in the northeastern states of New Jersey and New York on the East Coast of the United States. The system of waterways of the Port of New York and New Jersey forms one of the most intricate natural harbors in the world and one of the busiest ports of the United States. The harbor opens onto the New York Bight in the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast and Long Island Sound to the northeast.
Ward's Point is the southernmost point in the U.S. state of New York and lies within Tottenville, Staten Island, New York City. It is located at the mouth of Arthur Kill, across from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, at the head of Raritan Bay. The site is part of modern-day Conference House Park.
Conference House is a stone house in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York City built by Captain Christopher Billopp some time before 1680. It is located in Conference House Park near Ward's Point, the southernmost tip of New York State on Staten Island, which became known as "Billop's Point" in the 18th century.
Richmond Valley is the name of a neighborhood located on the South Shore of Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City, the largest city in the United States. Richmond Valley is bordered on the north by Pleasant Plains, to the south by Tottenville, to the west by the Arthur Kill, and to the east by the Lower New York Bay.
The Eagleswood Military Academy was a private military academy in Perth Amboy, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, which served antebellum educational needs.
The Raritan Bayshore is a region in central sections in the state of New Jersey. It is the area around Raritan Bay from The Amboys to Sandy Hook, in Monmouth and Middlesex counties, including the towns of Woodbridge, Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Sayreville, Old Bridge, Matawan, Aberdeen, Keyport, Union Beach, Hazlet, Keansburg, Middletown, Atlantic Highlands, and Highlands. It is the northernmost part of the Jersey Shore, located just south of New York City. At Keansburg is a traditional amusement park while at Sandy Hook are found ocean beaches. The Sadowski Parkway beach area in Perth Amboy, which lies at the mouth of the Raritan River, was deemed the "Riviera of New Jersey" by local government. In recent years many of the beaches on the Bayshore area have been rediscovered and upgraded.
Perth Amboy is a station on NJ Transit's North Jersey Coast Line, located in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The station is located in a cut between Elm Street and Maple Street and between Smith Street and Market Street in downtown Perth Amboy, and has two low side platforms.
The Gateway Region is the primary urbanized area of the northeastern section of New Jersey. It is anchored by Newark, the state's most populous city. While sometimes known as the Newark metropolitan area, it is part of the New York metropolitan area.
The Tottenville station is a Staten Island Railway rapid transit station in the neighborhood of Tottenville, Staten Island, New York. Located near Main Street and Arthur Kill Road, it is the southern terminus on the main line and the southernmost railway station in both New York City and New York State.
Conference House Park is a park in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York City. The park is located along the Arthur Kill coast where the kill opens into Raritan Bay. It contains clay bluffs, part of the terminal moraine, formed when the Wisconsin Glacier receded 10,000 years ago. Ward's Point, the southernmost point in New York state, is in the park.
Christopher Billopp or Billop was an English officer of the Royal Navy in the seventeenth century who commanded various ships of the line, including HMS Greenwich in the Battle of Bantry Bay. He is noted as part of the "Staten Island Legend", a likely apocryphal story which describes Billopp's circumnavigation of Staten Island in a sailing race to claim it for New York. Though the legend has survived in oral tradition and popular culture since at least the 19th century, there is no concrete evidence that such a race actually occurred.
The West Midtown Ferry Terminal is a passenger bus and ferry terminal serving ferries along the Hudson River in New York City and northeastern New Jersey. It is located at Pier 79 in Hudson River Park adjacent to the West Side Highway at West 39th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The facility first opened in 1986 with the start of NY Waterway commuter ferry service.
The Kearny Cottage is a historic home in Perth Amboy, Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is open to the public as a historic house museum and is operated by Kearny Cottage Historical Society.
City Hall in Perth Amboy, Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, is a historic building built in the early 18th century, listed on New Jersey Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places. It is now the oldest public building in continuous use in the United States.
The Staten Island Railway (SIR) is the only rapid transit line in the New York City borough of Staten Island and is operated by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority, a unit of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The railway was historically considered a standard railroad line, but today only the western portion of the North Shore Branch, which is disconnected from the rest of the SIR, is used by freight and is connected to the national railway system.