There’s a very old, rusted, arrow-shaped sign pointing toward New Jersey on Richmond Terrace just east of Port Richmond Avenue, and if you look carefully you can just make out the words “Bayonne Ferry” on each side. This is one of the last remnants of the Port Richmond-Bergen Point (later Bayonne) Ferry, which ran off and on from 1701 to 1961. The ferry was begun by Jacob Corsen.
The ferry was rendered more or less redundant by the opening of the Bayonne Bridge in 1931, which I walked back in 2012; but it soldiered on for three more decades. The walkway was closed for a few years while the bridge roadbed was raised to allow full shipping access in the Kill Van Kull.
I’ve mentioned this sign before in features I’ve done in Port Richmond. However, even though I haven’t visited since a couple of years ago, I have gotten word that this sign has recently disappeared and with it the last traces of that old ferry route. Sick transit, Gloria!
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop, and as always, “comment…as you see fit.”
2/2/21
4 comments
The ferry ran into the early 60s. A fellow islander says 1962.
You can bet some antique dealer hired someone to theft it for them.You can also bet they keep a close watch on FNY
for any new leads.
I was gonna say that I recall taking that ferry, and I wasn’t born until 1948!
Spent many a day waiting for the R-1 Richmond Terrace bus while transferring from one of the many other bus routes that terminated at Port Richmond Square. Long after the Bayonne ferry was discontinued, the Square was a major transfer point for island bus routes.