Immigration
Immigration is a “defining feature” of the social, economic, and political history of the United States. In 1889, three years before Ellis Island opened as the chief point of entry for immigrants, the Central Railroad of New Jersey constructed a large terminal at Communipaw Cove in Jersey City directly across from Manhattan. In that year alone, 444,427 immigrants entered the country; by 1905, more than one million per year arrived. By 1930, immigration had slacked off to 241,700. The next stop for many of those passing through Ellis Island was the terminal of the Central Railroad or the Pennsylvania Railroad. Thus, millions of people first set foot on the mainland United States in New Jersey. Between 1912 and 1914, a ferry shed and train sheds were added to the CRR terminal. Each day, thousands of immigrants joined thousands of commuters in crossing on ferries to the rail terminals which, like nerve endings, connected to points throughout New Jersey and beyond.
Sheet 62 from Pier map of New York Harbor : including Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island City, Staten Island, New Jersey shore / Sanborn Map Company.
Sheet 62, Pier Map of New York Harbor … Published by Sanborn Map Company (New York, 1922). Among other features, the maps depict the Central Railroad terminal, the Pennsylvania Railroad terminal, and the basin of the Morris Canal.
Sheet 61 from Pier map of New York Harbor : including Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island City, Staten Island, New Jersey shore / Sanborn Map Company.
Sheet 61, Pier Map of New York Harbor … Published by Sanborn Map Company (New York, 1922). Among other features, the maps depict the Central Railroad terminal, the Pennsylvania Railroad terminal, and the basin of the Morris Canal.
Birds-eye view of Jersey City, New York ferries, and Pennsylvania Railroad Station.
“Birds-eye View of Jersey City, New York Ferries, and Pennsylvania Railroad Station,” Industries of New Jersey, part 1 (New York, 1882), p. 34.
Gravity Coal Piers of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Co. at Hoboken.
Gravity Coal Piers of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Co. at Hoboken. From: Scientific American, April 15, 1882. Facilities such as this or the Reading Railroad coal terminal at Port Reading supplied millions of tons of “black diamonds” for homes and industries.