A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 47

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188

USA > New York > A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 47

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Returning to New York he entered upon the work of constructing the Eighth Avenue street-car line and ran it successfully for seven years, recouping the stockholders their original capital and paying regularly a dividend of twelve per cent. In 1860 he gave up his street car interests and devoted himself to steam railroading and and became active in the mangement of several lines in and around New York. It is with the management of the Long Isand Railroad, however, that he is best remembered, in this connection. In later life Mr. Char- lick again became prominent in New York City's politics, and as a member of the Board of Police Commissioners his name was actively bandied about at a time when deals and dickers formed the professional politician's stock in trade in New York. He had hosts of enemies and troops of friends; by the former he was denounced for having committed practically every crime in the calendar; by the latter he was credited with brains, smartness and inflexible honesty.

However, all that may be, it is certain that his career as a politician did not add to his personal reputa- tion, nor has it won for his memory the regard which is paid even to that of a respectable mechanic.

railroad from Mineola to Locust Valley seems to have been agitated by the citizens along that line and the Long Island Railroad Company, and to have culminated in a paper railroad, which was never built. After Oliver Char- lick was elected president of the Long Island Railroad Company, and in May, 1863, the board brushed aside this paper organization and voted that it was expedient to build a road from Mineola to Glen Cove. Soon thereafter the Long Island Railroad Company took measures to construct the road, and on Sep- tember 17, 1863, executed a mortgage on that branch for the purpose of providing the means for its construction and completion. The date when this branch was finished and! opened does not appear in the minutes of the: company, but it was probably about the year 1864 or 1865. The road as originally con- structed still remains in active operation.

For several years after 1863 there was. nothing done in the way of railroad con- struction on Long Island that was antagon- istic to the interests of the Long Island Rail- road Company. There did grow up, how- ever, a feeling of great tension between citi- zens and property owners on the island and the railroad company by reason of the non- progressive management of the corporation. On can hardly resist speculation as to what would have been the systems of railroads upon the Island or what would have been the effect upon the Long Island Railroad prop- erty, had there been a liberal and progressive administration of the railroad's affairs at that time.

For several years after 1863 the people traveling from the south side of Long Island, and from many parts of the north side, would drive to the middle of the island to meet trains. In those days there was a very con- siderable activity around all of the stations on the main line between Farmingdale and Riverhead, where now it seems so dull and lifeless. The attractions of the shores of Long Island were such that, notwithstanding the inconvenience of access, population in- creased so rapidly that a time finally came when, despairing of having their reasonable wants met by the Long Island Railroad Com- pany, a series of railroad constructions began that were antagonistic to the Long Island! Railroad Company, and which continued for several years, with the result of almost de- stroying all railroad property on the Island, the new with the old. The history of this

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

contest will explain very much that is hard to understand in the tangled web of corpora- tions, railroad tracks and abandoned tracks on Long Island.

It is necessary now to retrace our steps and dates a little for the purpose of recording the history of a railroad that has been a very con- siderable factor in the railroad contests on Long Island. The Flushing Railroad Con- pany was organized in 1852, to build a road from Hunter's Point to the village of Flushing. This road was soon thereafter constructed, and was an outlying piece of road, serving only the wants of a local community, and appar- ently in no way related to the Long Island Railroad. Its location was from Main street, in the village of Flushing, to Newtown Creek, and thence along the northerly side of that creek to the East River. The location of its terminus on East River was in about the mid- dle of the large lumber yard south of the pres- ent Long Island Railroad depot. That land was under water and had not then been filled in, and there was a pile dock out for a con- .siderable distance to get sufficient depth of water for the landing of a small steamboat. The passengers were brought down by rail to this dock, and there they embarked on board .a small steamer that landed them at Fulton Ferry. This method of transportation contin- ued for a number of years. When the branch of the Long Island Railroad was built from Jamaica to Hunter's Point it crossed this old Flushing road at Winfield at nearly right angles to that line. The Flushing Railroad was not successful financially, and about 1858 a first mortgage on its property and corporate franchises was foreclosed, which resulted in the title passing to a new corporation, called the New York and Flushing Railroad Com- pany, organized in 1859. The new corporation continued to operate this road about the same as the old one had done, but its management was about as bad as any management could be, and the service was totally inadequate to the wants of so large a community as that residing at Flushing and in the adjacent coun- try. The line of this road having been crossed by the main line of the Long Island Railroad at Winfield made the road a property desired by the management of the Long Island Railroad. It was well understood that they had nego- tiated with the owners of the New York and Flushing Railroad and tried to acquire the property, but were unsuccessful for many years. The citizens of Flushing and vicinity,

chafing under the bad service of the New York and Flushing Railroad, were stimulated to se- cure an outlet in some other direction. The management of the Long Island Railroad en- couraged this sentiment with promises of aid over another line, and it resulted in the organi- zation of a corporation known as the Flushing and Woodside Railroad Company. The line of this road was . located from the Bridge street station, in the village of Flushing, to Woodside, on the line of the Long Island Rail- road, the intention being to have a through line from Hunter's Point to Flushing over this route. Work was actively commenced build- ing the division between Woodside and Flush- ing, and the same was about half completed when the owners of the New York & Flush- ing Railroad, discovering that there was to be an active competitor in the field, sold their stock to the management of the Long Island Railroad, who at once suspended work on the Woodside line, and it was not completed for many years thereafter. Prior to this pur- chase by the Long Island Railroad Company the East River terminus of the New York & Flushing Railroad had been changed from the small dock referred to, and a lease had been executed between the Long Island Rail- road Company and the New York & Flushing Railroad Company, giving the latter road ter- minal facilities for ten years in the Long Island Railroad station at Hunter's Point. The re- sulting position was, at the time we are speak- ing of, that the Long Island Railroad Com- pany had acquired the New York & Flushing Railroad, and was operating it as a branch of their road. The Flushing & Woodside Rail- road Company, by special act of the Legisla- ture, had acquired the right to build a draw- bridge over Flushing Creek, and the only cor- porate rights of that railroad that has now any value to the Long Island system is the right to cross this drawbridge, the same having been acquired, as will be subsequently explained, from the Woodside corporation by another railroad organization.

About the time the Flushing & Woodside Railroad was being built, another railroad company was organized to build a road from Flushing eastward, known as the North Shore Railroad Company. This railroad was never completed. It was, however, actually con- structed from Flushing to Great Neck, and was operated for a number of years under a contract with the New York & Flushing Rail- road Company.

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INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS.

The Long Island Railroad Company did something in the way of extending its mileage between 1863 and 1870. One of the first moves in this direction was in April, 1863, when the corporation elected to purchase the stock of the branch which has been spoken of before as having been built from Syosset to Hicks- ville as a part of the Hicksville & Cold Spring Railroad. The Legislature had theretofore conferred upon the Long Island Railroad Company the power to build branches on Long Island at any point east of the village of Jamaica, or to purchase the stock of such con- necting railroads. In 1867 the Long Island Railroad Company filed a map of a route, and entered vigorously upon the construction of a branch from Syosset to Northport. This branch was built under the corporate powers of the Long Island Railroad Company. The movement met with the vigorous opposition of those interested in having the railroad ex- tended to Cold Spring; but the opponents of the location were divided, and it resulted in the abandonment of the right of way, and work between Syosset and Cold Spring, and the opening of a new line to Northport, the ter- minus of this line being in the village of Northport and not at the junction of the Smithtown & Port Jefferson Railroad, to be hereafter referred to. The result of these operations was to take in the piece of road built from Hicksville to Syosset, with the ex- tension from Syosset to Northport, making one continuous branch from Hicksville to Northport.

In 1869 the Long Island Railroad Company projected another important work, which was conducted under its own corporate powers. It entered upon the construction of a line from Manor to Sag Harbor. The effect of this was to grant railroad facilities to the citizens on the south side of Long Island, at the east end thereof. This branch became an important feeder to the main line of the Long Island Railroad, and contributed greatly to the devel- opment of that part of the south side of Long Island.

Another important extension was stimu- lated by the Long Island Railroad Company, although not built bv them. In June, 1870, the Smithtown & Port Jefferson Railroad Company was organized for the purpose of building a road from Northport to Port Jef- ferson. This was practically an extension of the branch of the Long Island Railroad then in operation from Hicksville to Northport, the

details of which have been above stated. This road was about sixteen miles in length, and was constructed in its entirety. At the point of junction with the branch near Northport, the departure was made on the high lands out of the village of Northport rather than by extending from the terminus of the branch road, the effect of which was to have two stations in Northport, one of them on the hill, at which the through trains stopped, and an- other a short distance from the point of junc- tion down in the village of Northport .*

The most serious menace to the business of the Long Island Railroad Company ap- peared in 1866, when the long-talked-of pro- ject of building the South Side Railroad was entered upon. So much had the population increased along the south side that the inhab- itants and property owners along that section of country determined at all hazards to have a railroad that would let them out with greater facility than they could possibly get by driv- ing to the center of the island to the main line of the Long Island Railroad. Numerous negotiations and schemes were projected for building branches toward the scuth, but for some reason Oliver Charlick and his associates failed to comprehend the growing importance of that section of the island, nor did they be- lieve it possible for it to escape from their control. The South Side Railroad was con- structed and opened between Jamaica and Brooklyn in the fall of 1867. At that time the South Side Railroad Company had not suc- ceeded in acquiring their right-of-way and fa- cilities for transporting passengers to the river's edge in the city of Brooklyn. They

*"The people of Smithtown made many efforts to brin *

the railroad here * These negotiations resulted ig a proposition by Oliver Charlick, representing the LonD Island Railway, by which the people of this town [Smithg town] should organize an independent corporation (it- never possessed the first elements of independence). should raise $80,000 in cash, lease its franchise to the Long Island Railway in advance, expend the money as far as it would go in constructing the road and raise the balance of the money necessary to complete it by issuing bonds, the principal and interest of which should be guaranteed by the Long Island Railroad. That plan, after much negotiation, was finally adopted. The town of Smithtown agreed to raise $50,000 of the $80,000 required by bonding the town and taking that amount of stock at par, the bonds to run thirty years, at seven per cent. interest. The people of the town have accepted and enjoyed the benefits of the railroad but now com- plain of the heavy interest."-J. Lawrence Smith.

[The road from Hicksville to Syosset in 1854, and extended to Northport in 1868, and from there, passing through Smithtown to Port Jefferson in 1872.]

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

were straitened for means, and had not entirely given up hope that at Jamaica they might enter into some arrangement with the Long Island Railroad Company by which their cars and passengers could be transported to Hunter's Point. The writer was present at a long inter- view between representatives of the South Side Railroad Company and Mr. Charlick, in which every consideration was urged upon the Long Island Railroad Company to enter into such an arrangement, but Mr. Charlick was obdurate. His motive was not easy to define, except that it is highly probable he anticipated that at some future time this road would be- come more embarrassed and better terms could be made with it by the Long Island Railroad Company. All hope of reaching Hunter's Point over the Long Island Railroad having disappeared, the South Side Railroad corpor- ation proceeded vigorously to build their line between Jamaica and Bushwick, which was as far as they were permitted to go with their locomotives into the city of Brooklyn. The location of this line was south of the present line from Jamaica to Springfield, and the sta- tion in Jamaica was at a point a little south of the present Long Island Railroad station in Jamaica. The line then passed westward for about two miles, and crossed the line of the Brooklyn & Jamaica Railroad, passing thence to Glendale, Fresh Pond and Bushwick. From Bushwick to the ferry on the East River the cars were hauled by dummy engines through the streets of the city of Brooklyn. About the time this line was completed to the East River, it was also opened as far east as Patch- ogue. Thereafter for a number of years, the main line of travel for the South Side Rail- road was from Patchogue to the East River via Bushwick. It drew travel very heavily from the Long Island Railroad at all points on the south side west of Patchogue, and was also a sharp competitor in the village of Ja- maica.

In 1868 the parties interested in the South Side Railroad Company organized the Far Rockaway Branch Railroad Company for the purpose of building a railroad between Valley Stream and Far Rockaway. This road was promptly constructed and put into operation. It proved to be a valuable feeder to the South Side Railroad. At that time, the terminus of the road was near the beach, at a point just west of the village of Far Rockaway. After a year or two of operation at this point, one winter there came a remarkable change in the

shore line off Far Rockaway. In a single win- ter the coast in front of this South Side station fell off one-quarter to one-half of a mile out to sea, and a new shore line was formed and a beach thrown up along the front of the village of Far Rockaway, leaving a considerable sheet of water between the village and the sand beach. The South Side Railroad Company, finding that the attraction of being near the beach had been so suddenly and summarily terminated by the action of Nature, instead of extending their road directly out to the new line of beach, changed their plans, and in 1871 organized another railroad corporation, called the Rockaway Railroad Company, and located the line westerly along and parallel to. the beach and not a great distance therefrom. This road was built through the sand hills of the beach for a distance of about four miles, and was the beginning of the large railroad business since transacted on Rockaway Beach. But little of the line of this road now enters into the trackage of the Long Island Railroad.

In 1869 the Hempstead and Rockaway Railroad was organized for the purpose of building a road from Valley Stream to the village of Hempstead. While this road was built in connection with the South Side Railroad and was operated by it after its con- struction, it formed no part of the corporate property of the South Side Railroad Com- pany. Their station was conveniently located on the southerly side of the village of Hemp- stead, and it drew off for many years the major part of the travel from the Long Island Rail- road in the village of Hempstead, diverting it to the South Side Railroad.

While the business to Far Rockaway and Rockaway Beach was being developed by the South Side system, the Long Island Railroad Company determined to enter this field, and in 1870 the managers organized the New York & Rockaway Railroad Company, to construct a railroad from Jamaica to Far Rockaway. This road was located from what is now known as Rockaway Junction, about one mile east of the village of Jamaica, running southerly and in a pretty direct line crossing the main line of the South Side Railroad at Springfield, now Springfield Junction, continuing its course to the village of Far Rockaway, and crossing the Valley Stream branch of the South Side Rail- road at a point a short distance north of Far Rockaway, and entered the village of Far Rockaway at a point much more convenient for public travel than that located by the Valley

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INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS.

Stream branch of the South Side Railroad. This corporation was organized apparently for the purpose of having the corporate rights and franchises vested in a corporation distinct from the Long Island Railroad Company. It was mortgaged and built upon the proceeds of the bonds sold. The line was leased to the Long Island Railroad Company for the term of thirty years, at a fixed rental sufficient to pay the interest on the bonds, and has been operated to this day by the Long Island Rail- road Company under this lease. The corpor- ate organization of this railroad has not been kept alive, and the Long Island Railroad Com- Dany's authority and control over the prop- erty is based upon the provisions of the lease. Upon the completion of this line, there sprang up a sharp competition between the South Side Railroad Company and the Long Island Rail- road Company for the business accessible to both roads on the two lines.

We will now turn our attention to opera- tion's that were inaugurated on the north side of the Island, which resulted in an entire revo- lution and change of railroad affairs in that direction, and which preceded the final com- bination of all the railroad interests. We have before stated that the New York & Flushing Railroad had fallen into the hands of the Long Island Railroad Company, and that after the accomplishment of that purpose there was an abandonment in the construction of the Flush- ing & Woodside Railroad, by reason of the purpose having been accomplished that seemed to actuate the directors of the Long Island Railroad in entering upon the building of the Flushing & Woodside Railroad. The citizens of Flushing and vicinity, smarting under what they conceived to be a trick to in- duce them to enter upon the construction of the Flushing & Woodside Railroad, only for the purpose of using it as a club to scare the management of the New York & Flushing Railroad by the Long Island management, de- termined to revive that enterprise and push it to completion. as a rival of the New York & Flushing Railroad. To accomplish this ob- ject, they secured the co-operation of some wealthy citizens in the villages of College Point and Whitestone, who in 1868 proceeded to organize a new railroad company, called the Flushing & North Side Railroad Company. The articles of association were filed for con- structing and maintaining a railroad from Hunter's Point to the village of Roslyn, with a branch at a point in the main line in or near

the village of Flushing to run to the villages of College Point and Whitestone. The Flushing interests having secured a majority of the old Woodside Company's stock, and thereby se- cured control of the franchise to cross Flush- ing Creek with a drawbridge, the new com- pany located its line from a point on the north side of the East River, as follows: Starting at Hunter's Point and running thence imme- diately adjacent to and parallel with the Long- Island Railroad as far as Woodside ; then con- tinuing their location over the line of the Flushing & Woodside Railroad to Bridge street, in the village of Flushing; continuing from there to the villages of College Point and Whitestone. This part of the line from Flush- ing to Whitestone was the branch contemplat- ed in the articles of association.

In the sequel of the history of the road, no attempt was made to build the main line to Roslyn, and that part of the organization of this company need not be further considered. Work was pressed vigorously in the construc- tion of this line, and finally, in the autumn of 1868, it was completed and opened for public travel. This road was new and well equipped, and very popular. The result was that it drew almost the entire travel off from the old line of the New York & Flushing Railroad. Soon thereafter negotiations were opened between the Long Island Railroad management and the management of this new enterprise to sell out to the Flushing & North Side Railroad Com- pany the New York & Flushing Railroad. Competition had so far reduced the value of the New York & Flushing Railroad that the Long Island Railroad management were will- ing to get rid of it, and the management of the Flushing & North Side Railroad deemed it advisable to get rid of the competition of that line, and the transfer of the entire stock of the New York & Flushing Railroad to par- ties interested in the Flushing & North Side Railroad was the result. Thereafter, in April, 1869, the Legislature passed an enabling act, authorizing the Flushing & North Side Railroad Company to purchase the stock of the Flushing & Woodside Railroad, and to purchase a part of the New York & Flushing Railroad, and to consolidate them into one corporation. In pursuance of this act, the stock of the Flushing & Woodside Railroad was merged into that of the Flushing & North Side Railroad, and a deed was executed by the New York & Flushing Railroad Company. transferring the real estate and franchises of

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

that part of its road lying between Winfield and Main street, Flushing, to the Flushing & North Side Railroad Company. Thus termin- ated the property and franchises of the New York & Flushing Railroad Company to oper- ate a railroad between Winfield and Flushing, but the New York & Flushing Railroad Com- pany remained intact as a corporation with a railroad from Winfield to Long Island City, with its property rights unimpaired, and with its terminal facilities, such as they were, lying south of the depot and yards of the Long Island Railroad.

As the question of communication with New York was the all-important factor in all these railroad lines, the position of the New York & Flushing Railroad at Long Island City was unfortunate, in that it was cut off from access to the ferry by the depot and yards of the Long Island Railroad, and that it was impracticable to maintain a separate line of boats for the purpose of carrying its pas- sengers to New York. It was this reason that moved the owners of this property to sever it as they did, taking the eastern end into the new organization, and leaving the western end to be disposed of as time and subsequent events might point a way. The problem that now presented itself to the Flushing & North Side Railroad Company was to utilize its property and make it available in serving the public. To effect this object, the Flushing & North Side Railroad Company filed a new map of location, extending its lines from Woodside to Winfield, where it formed a junction with the old main line of the New York & Flush- ing Railroad, continuing along the line of that road to a point a short distance west of Flush- ing Creek, on the Meadows, near Flushing, and running thence along the creek, on the westerly side thereof, to a junction with what was the former Woodside line, crossing the creek on the drawbridge of that line, and so making a continuous line to College Point and Whitestone. These changes were effected soon after the purchase was made, and have contin- ued in operation to this day, forming the line as now operated between Long Island City and College Point. The line between Woodside and the drawbridge was abandoned.

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 47

Author: Ross, Peter. cn Publication date: 1902 Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1188

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188