Fulton Ferry (ferry)

The Fulton Ferry was the first steamship ferry route connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York City, United States, joining Fulton Street (Manhattan) and Fulton Street (Brooklyn) across the East River. After the Brooklyn Bridge was built, ridership declined, and the ferry ceased operation on January 19, 1924^[1] (though New York Waterway serves a very similar route today^[2]).

History

Big Steamboat Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, New York, ca. 1885. (5832941003)

A ferry connecting Broad Street in what was then New Amsterdam with Joralemon Street in what was then Breukelen was started in the 1630s by lone ferryman Cornelis Dircksen. It was later moved to Maiden Lane (Manhattan) and Ferry Road, soon to be called Fulton Street (Brooklyn). On January 24, 1814, the Fulton Ferry Company, founded by Robert Fulton and William Cutting, obtained a lease on the route from the City of New York. The company introduced steamboat service to the route with the Nassau on May 8, 1814 (the first steam ferry service on the East River), and moved the Manhattan landing to Fulton Street that year. The ferry, which had been known popularly as the Old Ferry since 1795, when the Catherine Ferry (New Ferry) was introduced, became known as the Fulton Ferry,^[3] and the streets on either side were later renamed in turn. The Fulton Ferry Company and the South Ferry Company merged in 1839 to form the New York and Brooklyn Union Ferry Company.^[4]

References