Communipaw Terminal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 The Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal atLiberty State Park in 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Liberty State Park Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accessible | No | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | April 30, 1967 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Electrified | No | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Location | Liberty State Park Jersey City, New Jersey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 40°42′26″N74°2′7″W / 40.70722°N 74.03528°W /40.70722; -74.03528 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Area | 63 acres (25 ha) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Built | 1889 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Architect | William H. Peddle, Peabody & Stearns | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Architectural style | Richardsonian Romanesque | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NRHP reference No. | 75001138[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NJRHP No. | 1513[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Significant dates | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Added to NRHP | September 12, 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Designated NJRHP | August 27, 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TheCentral Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, also known asCommunipaw Terminal andJersey City Terminal, was theCentral Railroad of New Jersey's waterfront passengerterminal inJersey City, New Jersey. The terminal was built in 1889, replacing an earlier one that had been in use since 1864. It operated until April 30, 1967.[3]
It also serviced the Central Railroad of New Jersey-operatedReading Railroad, theBaltimore and Ohio Railroad, and theLehigh Valley Railroad during various periods in its 78 years of operation.[4]
The terminal was one of five passenger railroad terminals that lined theHudson Waterfront during the 19th and 20th centuries, the others beingWeehawken,Hoboken,Pavonia andExchange Place, with Hoboken being the only station that is still in use, as of 2024.
Theheadhouse was renovated and incorporated intoLiberty State Park. The station has been listed on theNew Jersey Register of Historic Places[5] andNational Register of Historic Places since September 12, 1975.[6] It also has been named aNew Jersey State Historic Site.
The terminal is part ofLiberty State Park, and along with nearbyEllis Island andStatue of Liberty recalls the era of massive immigration through thePort of New York and New Jersey. It is estimated that around 10.5 million immigrants that were processed at Ellis Island entered the country through the station.[4][7] The area has long been known asCommunipaw, which in theLenape language meansbig landing place at the side of a river.[8] The first stop west of the station was indeed called Communipaw, and was not far from the village that had been established there in 1634 as part of theNew Netherland settlement ofPavonia. The land on which the extensive yards were built wasreclaimed, or filled. The terminal itself is next to theMorris Canal Big Basin, which to some degree was made obsolete by the railroads which replaced it. The long cobbled road which ends at the terminal (once calledJohnston Avenue for a president of CNJ) is named Audrey Zapp Drive, after the environmentalist active in the creation of the park.
The main building is designed in aRichardsonian Romanesque style. Theintermodal facility contains more than a dozen platforms and several ferry slips. Arriving passengers would walk to therailhead concourse and could either pass through its main waiting room, by-pass it on either side, and take stairs to the upper level. Theferry slips have also been restored though the structure which housed them has been removed, as have the tracks. The Bush-typetrainsheds, the largest ever to be constructed and designed byA. Lincoln Bush, were not part of the original construction, but were built in 1914 and have not been restored.[9] The abandoned shed covered 12 platforms and 20 tracks.[10]
The terminal, along with its docks and yards, was one of several massive terminal complexes (the other being the terminals of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Exchange Place, the Erie Railroad Terminal in Pavonia, the Lackawanna Railroad Terminal in Hoboken, and the West Shore Railroad Terminal in Weehawken) that dominated the western waterfront of theNew York Harbor from the mid 19th to the mid 20th century. Of the two still standing, theHoboken Terminal (the former Lackwanna Railroad Terminal) is the only one still in use. Lines from the station headed to the southwest. Arriving at the waterfront from the points required overcoming significant natural obstacles including crossing theHackensack River andMeadows andHudson Palisades, and in the case of New Jersey Central, traversing theNewark Bay. For its mainline, the railroad constructed theNewark Bay Bridge toElizabeth. ItsNewark and New York Branch cut throughBergen Hill and crossed two bridges atKearny Point. Bothrights-of-way inHudson County are now used by theHudson Bergen Light Rail, one terminating atWest Side Avenue and the other at8th Street station inBayonne.
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TheCommunipaw ferry constituted the main ferry route from the terminal and was operated by four ferries that crossed the North River toLiberty Street Ferry Terminal in lowerManhattan. Additional service to23rd Street[11] was also operated until the CRNJ went bankrupt in 1945 and scrapped its ferry boats used on the 23rd street route in 1947.[12] In the early 1900s the B&O Railroad requested the CRNJ operate ferries for its luxuryRoyal Blue service passengers toWhitehall Terminal and this was accomplished for several years until the City of New York purchased theStaten Island Ferry from the B&O's subsidiary, theStaten Island Railway, and ended the service in 1905.[12] Until the opening of theVerrazano Narrows Bridge there was also service toBrooklyn andStaten Island[13] Other boats, among them theSS Asbury Park andSS Sandy Hook, which travelled to theRaritan Bayshore.[9]
In 1941, the CRRNJ ferryboat fleet made 374 one-way crossings of theNorth River each day.[14]
Jersey Central'sBlue Comet offered elaborate service toAtlantic City. The railroad's suburban trains served passengers to west and south, including theJersey Shore. CNJ's long-distance service intoPennsylvania ran toHarrisburg,Scranton, and present-dayJim Thorpe, then known as Mauch Chunk.[15]
TheReading Company used the terminal for itsCrusader andWall Street trains. TheBaltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), whoseRoyal Blue was a premier passenger train toWashington, D.C., and offered train service toChicago andSt. Louis.[15]
In April 1967, the opening of theAldene Connection led to the end of passenger service to the station and the diverting of all remaining passenger trains toPenn Station inNewark. Since then,Hoboken Terminal has served as the main commuter rail station forJersey City, and straddles the Jersey City/Hoboken line.
The timetable of 27 September 1936 shows 132 weekday departures, including 25 to CNJ's Broad St. Newark station, 25 that ran south from Elizabethport, two to Chrome and the rest to the NY&LB, and 19 Reading and B&O trains that turned southwest at Bound Brook Junction. Three trains ran toMauch Chunk and two toHarrisburg viaAllentown; the other 58 trains terminated along the main line between West 8th St inBayonne andHampton.
Until April 1958, several long-distance trains originated at the station, and trains toPhiladelphia lasted until 1967.
| Operators | Named trains | Destination | Year begun | Year discontinued |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore and Ohio | Capitol Limited | Chicago viaWashington, D.C. andPittsburgh | 1923 | 1958* |
| Baltimore and Ohio | Columbian | Chicago via Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh | 1931 | 1958* |
| Baltimore and Ohio | Diplomat | St. Louis via Washington, D.C. andCincinnati | 1920s | 1958* |
| Baltimore and Ohio | Metropolitan Special (Washington Night Express fromJersey City toBaltimore, meeting with theMetropolitan Special) | St. Louis via Washington, D.C. and Cincinnati | ca. 1920 | 1958* |
| Baltimore and Ohio | National Limited | St. Louis via Washington, D.C. and Cincinnati | 1925 | 1958* |
| Baltimore and Ohio | Royal Blue | Washington, D.C. | 1890 | 1958* |
| Baltimore and Ohio | Shenandoah | Chicago via Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh | 1930s | 1958* |
| Baltimore and Ohio | Washington Night Express | Washington, D.C. | 1947 | 1952 |
| Central Railroad of New Jersey | Blue Comet | Atlantic City, New Jersey | 1929 | 1941 |
| Central Railroad of New Jersey | Bullet | Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania | 1929 | 1931 |
| Reading Railroad with the Central Railroad of New Jersey | Crusader | Philadelphia | 1937 | 1967 |
| Reading Railroad with the Central Railroad of New Jersey | Harrisburg Special | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | 1910 | 1953 |
| Reading Railroad with the Central Railroad of New Jersey | Queen of the Valley | Harrisburg | 1902 | 1967 |
| Reading Railroad with the Central Railroad of New Jersey | Wall Street | Philadelphia | 1948 | 1968 |
| Reading Railroad with the Central Railroad of New Jersey | Williamsporter | Williamsport, Pennsylvania | 1931 | 1944 |
* With the closing of Baltimore & Ohio passenger service north of Baltimore in 1958 theRoyal Blue was abandoned and theCapitol Limited,Metropolitan Special andNational Limited were terminated east of Baltimore.
Following theAldene Connection's opening in 1967, the terminal sat unused but maintained and guarded by the Central Railroad of New Jersey. When CNJ shops and engine facilities nearby closed in the early 1970s, the terminal sat abandoned.
A portion of the 1968 movieFunny Girl was filmed at the terminal.[16] Numerous fairs, concerts, and other sponsored events (among them the Central Jersey Heritage Festival[17] and theAll Points West Music & Arts Festival) take place at the station and its grounds. It is a very popular place from which to view July 4 fireworks.[18] In the aftermath of theSeptember 11 attacks, its parking lot was the staging area for dozens of ambulances that were mobilized to transport victims of the attacks.[citation needed]
Ferries to theStatue of Liberty National Monument,Ellis Island, andLiberty Island depart daily.[19][7] Since 2024, a free shuttle bus service operates on weekends and holidays from April to November connecting the terminal to various points of interest within the park and to theHudson Bergen Light Rail'sLiberty State Park Station and the16NJ Transit Bus route.[20][21] In 2009 Rutgers University students proposed building a trolley line to the terminal building and other points in the park from the light rail station to improve access.[22]
The terminal was badly damaged by flooding duringHurricane Sandy in 2012 and was reopened in 2016.[23]
OnElection Day 2020, an episode of the political programFox & Friends was filmed in a portable studio placed outside the terminal. Promotional footage for the episode frequently features the terminal.[24]
![Bush shed at Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey, the largest ever built[7]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aCNJRR_Terminal_Jersey_City_NJ.jpg)
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![Memorial to the employees at milepost 0[25]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aCentral_Railroad_of_New_Jersey_Terminal_-_Employee_Memorial.jpg)
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