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 |
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 northeastern Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy is known as the "City by the Bay", referring to its location adjoining Raritan Bay.
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 Raritan River is a river of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its watershed drains much of the central region of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay near Staten Island on the Atlantic Ocean.
Route 440 is a state highway in New Jersey, United States. It comprises two segments, a 5.1-mile (8.2 km) freeway in Middlesex County linking I-287 and the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95), in Edison to the Outerbridge Crossing in Perth Amboy and an 8.18-mile (13.16 km) four-lane divided highway in Hudson County running from the Bayonne Bridge in Bayonne to Truck US Route 1-9 in Jersey City. These two segments are connected by NY 440, which runs across Staten Island. The freeway portion in Middlesex County is six lanes wide and interchanges the Garden State Parkway and US 9 in Woodbridge.
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 neighborhood and settlement in both New York City and New York State, as well as the westernmost neighborhood in New York City. 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 the Tottenville neighborhood of Staten Island in 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, which became known as "Billop's Point" in the 18th century.
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 Middlesex and Monmouth counties, including the towns of 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.
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. 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 City. 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 that 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 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. It is now the oldest public building in continuous use in the United States. The Perth Amboy City Hall and the Surveyor General's Office were added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 12, 1981, for their significance in architecture and politics/government.
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.