The Lincoln Highway in New Jersey: the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal building at Liberty State Park in Jersey City.
The CRR Terminal building recently reopened to visitors after several years repairing the Superstorm Sandy damage. I had a visit last week. It seems to be an appropriate Independence Day post.
You may have family members who used this station upon arrival in the US: this was the rail terminal for Ellis Island. Commuters to New York would board ferries by the terminal. The train sheds were the largest ever to be constructed – the tracks are gone, but whimsically there are signs telling us the train departures. There are so many of these ghostly sites in the NY/NJ area.
“The terminal served as the largest rail hub in the New York Metropolitan Area between 1892 and 1954. Of the approximately 17 million people who passed through nearby Ellis Island during those years, about two-thirds started their new lives in America by departing on trains from the terminal building. By the start of the 20th century, the terminal accommodated between 30,000-50,000 people per day. However, the transportation hub ceased passenger operations in April 1967 after CRRNJ declared bankruptcy.” (From a recent article on the restoration and reopening.)
My mother arrived from Germany (embarking from Stavanger, Norway) in the United States at Ellis Island in 1951 and departed on her cross-country train journey to California from this rail terminal. Just a few years later, on Nov. 12, 1954, Ellis Island closed. Happy 4th!!!
