Harsimus Cove - On Land

Harsimus Cove - On Land

Jersey City's role as the region's prime railroad center was vital to the operation of the Port of New York and New Jersey. Goods shipped east by train were transferred to New York and New Jersey piers by lighters and by car floats, introduced in 1866, or else loaded onto some of the few freighters which docked on the New Jersey side of the port. The pictures shown here were taken in 1954, in the waning years of the city's railroad industry. In the 1960s and 1970s, the interstate highway system expanded truck transit and container shipping changed the requirements of port facilities, making the railyards of the Jersey City waterfront obsolete.

By the end of the 20th century, all traces of the railyards that defined the downtown Jersey City waterfront for a century had vanished, save for a couple of piers and the semi-submerged footings of several more. In their place are the modern developments that have redefined the city's "Gold Coast," beginning with Newport rising on the former Harsimus site and spreading south and inland towards the historic districts of the interior of downtown.

11/23/1954