USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume II > Part 38
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The Third Avenue and Fordham Railroad had a natural successor in the Harlem Bridge, Morrisania and Fordham Railroad Company, incorporated in 1863, with a route from the bridge to Fordham via Third Avenue. This was the first street railway in the borough. According to the report filed at the end of 1864 by its president, John B. Haskin, five miles of road had been built at a cost of $158,749.22, and 571,450 passengers had been carried. The road was capitalized at $300,000, of which $72,000 was paid up; the outstanding indebtedness of $88,000 bore interest at seven per cent. It owned seventeen first- class and two second-class cars, which traveled by horsepower at the rate of six and one-half miles per hour, including stops, or seven miles an hour, while in motion. The rates of fare were as follows :
Harlem Bridge to Morrisania 5 cents
Harlem Bridge to Tremont 8 cents
Harlem Bridge to Fordham 10 cents
In 1865 the fare to Morrisania was increased to six cents, and the average rate of speed decreased to six miles an hour. This represents the rate of progress according to the report, but, in truth, on very stormy nights the cars did not run at all or at very infrequent intervals. The roadbed was so poor that very often, when the driver attempted to put on a spurt of speed, there would be a sudden jar and stoppage.
The first extension of the horse-car service was in 1870, when two cars were run between Third Avenue and West Farms by way of the Boston Road. After that many extensions were made, both in the days of the horse and the days of the trolley, until The Bronx became fairly gridironed with street car surface lines. The trolley, or electric, motive power was first introduced in October, 1892; the overhead system being used. The street car service in course of time became extended from the Harlem River northward from three points : Harlem Bridge, Central Bridge, and Kingsbridge, though cars crossed the Madison Avenue, the Lenox Avenue, and the Washington bridges. Harlem Bridge soon showed itself the most important of these radiating points, and over it many lines pass from their terminus at 128th Street and Third Avenue, Manhattan. These lines go over a part of Third
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Avenue for a greater or less distance before diverging to their special destination. Until the spring of 1908, an additional fare of three cents secured a transfer to or from the elevated.
The whole of the system within The Bronx was under the control of the Union Railway Company, which was known in popular parlance as the "Huckleberry Road," until January, 1898, when the Third Avenue Company secured control. The Third Avenue and Leased lines were, in their turn, leased to the Metropolitan Street Railway Company on April 13, 1900, for nine hundred and ninety-nine years. On November 25, 1901, the Interurban Railway Company secured control. The development of the system was, however, mainly due to the Union Railway Company. In January, 1904, the Interurban Company peti- tioned the county court of Westchester County to change its name to that of the New York Railway Company.
During the decade from 1898 to 1908 all the railways of Manhattan and The Bronx were being manipulated by William C. Whitney and others, with the result that they came virtually under one management. The stock was increased beyond any reasonable relation to the actual value of the roadbeds, rolling stock, barns, power-houses, franchises, and earning capacity, so that in June, 1908, they went into the hands of receivers, and the transfers to and from the elevated and the West- chester Traction Company were abolished by the United States courts, though those with the Westchester Company were resumed in certain cases. The successful operation upon Manhattan Island of the elevated railroads after 1870 turned the attention of engineers and capitalists to the possibilities of similar structures in the newly-annexed district. Accordingly on April 5, 1880, articles of association were filed by the Harlem River and Port Chester Rapid Transit Company, under the general railroad laws of 1850, for the construction of a steam railway from East 129th Street and Second Avenue, Manhattan, to a point on Westchester Avenue near the Bronx River, there dividing into two branches, one of which was to go to Hunt's Point. On October 19, 1880, the Suburban Rapid Transit Company was chartered under the Rapid Transit Act of 1875, relating to elevated railroads. On Novem- ber 30, 1883, the New York, Fordham and Bronx Railway Company filed articles of incorporation under the same act for the purpose of constructing a railroad on the Annexed District, to connect with the elevated railroads then running on Manhattan Island, and to extend to Bronxdale and Williamsbridge in two branches from Fordham. On March 17, 1880, the Suburban Rapid Transit Company acquired all the rights, franchises, etc., of the last-named company, and began the con- struction of an elevated road from the East 129th Street and Third Avenue, south of the Harlem River, to 143rd Street, between Willis and Alexander avenues in the borough. The bridge over the Harlem
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River, generally known as the "Second Avenue Bridge," was opened to the public on May 17, 1886.
In the year following, 1887, the line was continued to 161st Street, a distance of 2.16 miles from the Manhattan end. To 145th Street the road used its own property, none of the streets being used except to cross over, and the tracks were constructed in the middle of the blocks between Willis and Alexander avenues. From 147th Street the elevated structure followed the line of Third Avenue. The next ex- tension was made to Tremont, 177th Street, in July, 1891. Another extension was made to Pelham Avenue, Fordham, in 1900; and the last extension was made to Bronx Park through the grounds of Ford- ham University in 1902, thus making the total length of the line about five miles. Until August, 1891, to get from any place in the Annexed District to any place in Manhattan by elevated required the payment of two fares, or ten cents; but upon that date the Manhattan Company acquired the Suburban, and after that time the fare from the upper terminus of the road to the South Ferry became five cents.
Underground Railways-Already in the middle of the last century the subject of underground railways was discussed for the old city of New York. In 1868 the New York Central Underground Railway was chartered; in 1872 the New York Rapid Transit Company, in which Cornelius Vanderbilt was interested, was chartered, and among other schemes was the Beach Pneumatic Railway Company, which actually built a section underground, still existing abreast of City Hall Park. All these companies, though granted full powers and excellent routes, failed to attract the necessary capital for their construction; and the building of the elevated roads sidetracked the idea of underground railways for several years, or until 1884, when the discussion was resumed. In his message to the Common Council in January, 1888, Mayor Hewitt called their attention to the subject of underground rail- ways by stating that the existing railways of the city would soon be inadequate for the increasing traffic, and that the construction of an underground railway was desirable and would be soon absolutely necessary. In view of these facts he suggested that some scheme should be devised to advance the credit of the city for building such roads, as a large amount of capital would be required. But nothing at that time came of the mayor's suggestion.
In 1890 the Legislature enacted a rapid-transit bill affecting cities of over one million inhabitants. Under the provisions of this act, Mayor Grant appointed the first Rapid Transit Commission, which made a report, June 16, 1890, in favor of an underground railway. Routes were selected, soundings made, consents of property owners obtained, other property selected for condemnation by the Supreme
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Court, and finally the franchises were offered for sale, but no responsible bidder appeared. The plan which had cost the city over $130,000 was dropped. In 1893 a responsible banking house offered to construct the road if the city would loan its credit to an amount not to exceed thirty millions of dollars; but ex-Mayor Hewitt pointed out that the city was forbidden-by the Constitution of the State to loan its credit for private enterprises, and that the city must own anything for which its credit was advanced. A bill embodying the ideas of Mr. Hewitt was passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Flower on May 22, 1894. A new Commission was appointed by the mayor, of which Alexander E. Orr was president, and William Barclay Parsons was chief engineer, both of whom held the same positions when the road was completed. The act authorized the use of the referendum at the election of November 6, 1894, to see whether the people were willing to increase the city's indebtedness by the issue of bonds for the con- struction of the road, which was to be the property of the city. The vote showed 132,000 in favor of, and 43,000 opposed to, the plan. It was not until January 14, 1897, that the routes were finally decided upon and published; and it was not until January 15, 1900, that, all legal difficulties having been overcome, the Commission was able to open bids for the construction of the underground railway.
There were two bidders; and the contract was awarded to John B. MacDonald, who offered to construct the underground railway for $30,000,000. The contracts were signed on February 1, 1900, and the work was formally begun March 24th by Mayor Van Wyck, who began the excavation in front of the City Hall. The road was divided into major sections and these major sections into smaller, let to sub- contractors. No time was lost in getting to work upon all sections of the road.
The subway, a term which in popular parlanee has been substituted for the official name of "underground rapid-transit railway," was made to enter The Bronx at two points, namely at Morrisania and Kings- bridge. At Kingsbridge the road was elevated, crossing the bridge over Spuyten Duyvil Creek. The subway came up Lafayette Street and Fourth Avenue and Broadway, and divided above the Ninety- sixth Street station, the western branch continuing up Broadway, and the eastern passing under the northwest corner of Central Park in the direction of Morrisania. The subway on upper Broadway was made to continue until its terminus was at 242nd Street and Van Cortlandt Park. The West Farms division was made to cross under the Harlem River in tubes at West 145th Street, the tracks emerging from the subway east of Third Avenue at 149th Street. From there to its terminus at West Farms and Boston Road it was made an elevated structure, following Westchester Avenue and the Southern Boulevard.
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Work was started in The Bronx in the spring of 1901, and the road was formally opened for passenger traffic from City Hall to 145th Street, Manhattan, on October 27, 1904, and to the West Farms terminus on July 10, 1905.
On the first day of April, 1903, the Interborough Rapid Transit Com- pany was formed by the interests engaged in building the subway for the purpose of controlling both the subway and the elevated rail- way. As their interests thus became identical, the two roads issued transfers to each other at their crossing at Third Avenue and 149th Street. The contracting company had until September, 1904, to com- plete the construction of the road, after which it leased the road from the city for a period of fifty years at a fixed annual rental. At the expiration of the lease, the road with its entire equipment of power- houses, rolling stock, etc., becomes the property of the city absolutely.
The new underground railway soon showed itself a powerful factor in increasing the population of The Bronx. It soon became evident, moreover, that it was to a considerable and growing degree inadequate in comparison with the demands made upon it. This was speedily shown by, among other things, the overcrowded conditions of the trains. The demand became general that the routes of underground travel should be widened and multiplied; but the rivalries of the Inter- borough and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit companies, the danger of going beyond the debt limit, and the difficulties experienced by the mayor, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, the Board of Alder- men, and the Public Service Commission getting to a common basis of agreement, tied up the matter for years. At last, in the autumn of 1911, contracts were let for the building of some of the proposed lines.
The line that directly affected The Bronx was the new route up the east side of Manhattan, which was intended to save the time necessary for the detour to the west side up to Ninety-sixth Street and beyond. This is the Broadway-Lexington Avenue route, starting in lower Broad- way and swinging over to Lexington Avenue, which it follows to the Harlem River, under which it crosses in tubes. At East 138th Street and Park Avenue it was planned that the subway should divide into two branches of three tracks each; the Jerome Avenue branch and the Southern Boulevard branch. This was done and the new line was completed and opened up in 1919. The first-named remains under- ground to River Avenue and East 157th Street, where it emerges from the ground and becomes elevated above Jerome Avenue, which it follows to Woodlawn, a distance of 6.1 miles.
The other route turns east under 138th Street as far as the Southern Boulevard, which it follows underground as far as Hunt's Point, where it swings under Whitlock Avenue, which it follows to a point south of Westchester Avenue. Here it emerges from the ground and becomes
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elevated over Westchester Avenue, which it follows to Pelham Bay Park, a distance of 7.2 miles. Work was opened up on the different sections of the road in Manhattan in November, 1911, and the first work was started in The Bronx with interesting ceremonies at Mott Avenue, just north of 138th Street on the morning of December 4, 1911. It was expected that the road would be running at the expiration of two years from the beginning of work, but this was not realized. An- other extension of the rapid-transit system was later started when the Interborough agreed upon terms with the city for an extension from its terminus at West Farms by way of White Plains Avenue to, or near, the city line.
Shipping-The Borough of The Bronx is separated from the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens by Long Island Sound, the East River, the Harlem River, and Spuyten Duyvil Creek. The origin of the "Sound," as it is distinctively known to the population of the southeastern part of New York State, is apparent from the geographical definition of the term. The East River was so called from its lying east of the island of Manhattan. In the Keskeskeck deed of 1639 we read of the "Kil which runs behind the Island of Manhattan, mostly east and west." This kill, which was called by the Indians Muscoota, soon received a more distinctive name; for the Dutch settlers had already begun to occupy the flats at the northern end of the island, and with characteristic Dutch patriotism, called their little settlement, Nieuw Haarlem, after the town of Harlem in Holland. The kill thus became known as the Haarlem, or Harlem, River. It does not run mostly east nor west, but rather north and south. It is not a true river, as has been already remarked; but with Spuyten Duyvil Creek it con- stitutes a strait connecting the Hudson with the East River, which latter is itself a strait connecting the Sound with New York Bay.
Ferries-The western boundary of The Bronx is the lordly Hudson, so the waters around the borough are extensive. There was doubtless in the early days some communication between the mainland and New Harlem by means of canoes and dug-outs, and the fertile woods of the former furnished a range for cattle. In October, 1667, Colonel Nicolls granted four lots near Spuyten Duyvil to the inhabitants of Harlem for that purpose. It was not until the mainland became more settled, and communication with the eastern colonies more desirable, that ferries were established. As early as 1658, the director-general of New Netherland authorized the maintenance of a ferry with a suitable scow between Harlem and Brouncksland. Nothing was done, however, until 1666, when Governor Nicolls granted a charter to the Harlemites, in which, among other things, he allowed them "a ferry to and from the main which may redound to their particular benefit," and to con-
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struct one or two more suitable boats or scows for the transportation of men, horses, and cattle at reasonable charges. Early in the following year (1667) the authorities of Harlem, in carrying out the provisions of their charter, determined to establish a good ferry, and that a suitable ordinary or tavern should be built for the accommodation of those who used the ferry. Mayor Delaval promised to furnish the nails for the making of a scow, provided their value should be paid to him by the ferryman.
Johannes Verveelen agreed to take the ferry and maintain the tavern for six years; and he was duly sworn to provide lodging, food, and drink to travelers, and to ferry them over the river at their con- venience; but no liquor was to be sold to Indians. The ferry and inn were located about three hundred feet west of the present First Avenue, at East 123rd Street. The site on the borough side is unknown, but it was probably within the limits of the yards of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad. The filling in and extension of water- front property have changed very materially sites and locations ; places which were upon the shore in olden days are now very often several blocks inland. On July 3, 1667, a new arrangement was made with Verveelen by which he was to maintain the tavern and ferry for five years without the payment of rent therefor. In addition he received an acre of land on The Bronx side of the river, and a place to build a house, which should be bought from him at an appraised value in the event of the ferry being leased to another ferryman. The rates of ferriages were as follows:
For every passenger, two pence silver or six pence wampum; for every ox or cow that shall be brought into the boat, eight pence or twenty-four stivers; cattle under one year old, six pence, or eighteen stivers wampum; all cattle that swam over paid half price. Govern- ment messages were to be carried free. Nature had placed in the middle of Spuyten Duyvil Creek a reef which was bare at low tide, and which had been from immemorial time a ford or wading place to and from the mainland. The new ferry at Harlem could not divert travel from this ford, and Governor Lovelace, to whom Verveelen ap- pealed, suggested the removal of the ferry to the more convenient "wading place." In this the authorities at Harlem concurred and Varveelen was granted the ferry for three years by Governor Lovelace, to be maintained "at the place commonly called Spuyten Duyvel, be- tween Manhattan Island and the new village called Fordham." In obedience to the orders of the governor, the approaches on both sides were fenced off so as to prevent the use of the ford. Verveelen received a grant of the island or neck called Paparinemo, and was required there to have a "sufficient and able boat" for the transportation of travelers and their horses and cattle; and to be in attendance himself,
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or by deputy, at all seasonable hours to transport the same across the ferry.
The ferry franchise and Paparinemo were granted to him, his heirs and assigns for eleven years from November 1, 1669, with the right of preference in the letting of the ferry at the expiration of that period. The quitrent was ten shillings yearly to the Duke of York. Persons on government business, and those summoned under arms in an emer- gency were to pass free, as well as droves of horses and cattle the day before a fair, the day of it, and the day after it. All persons, under prescribed penalties, for the infliction of which Verveelen was made a constable, were to pay toll as follows:
For transportation of any person, one pence in silver;
For transportation of man and horse, seven pence in silver;
For a single horse, six pence;
For a turn with his boat, for two horses, ten pence; and for any more, four pence apiece; and if they be driven over half as much;
For single cattle, as much as for a horse;
For a boat-loading of cattle, as much as he hath for horses;
For droves of cattle to be driven over and opening ye gates, two pence per piece;
For feeding of cattle, three pence in silver;
For feeding a horse one day or night with hay or grass, six pence.
It has to be remembered that the distance across was greater then than it is now, as the sides of the creek have been filled in. Anyone who ever saw the tide race through the creek before the cutting of the ship canal can easily believe that the working of the boat from shore to shore was no easy task.
The freedom of the ferry was granted to three proprietors and also to the inhabitants of Fordham for their assistance in building the "causey," as long as the ferry was run by Verveelen and his assigns. Verveelen was ferryman for many years, and was succeeded by his son Daniel, who was ferryman until the building of the King's bridge in 1693.
There was established in 1743 a ferry from the mouth of West- chester Creek to Powell's point at Whitestone, Long Island. Ferris Avenue leads down from Throgg's Neck road to "Old Ferry Point" on the eastern side of the creek. In 1755, a ferry was in operation between Ann Hook's Neck, or Rodman's Neck, and Hempstead Bay on Long Island, Samuel Rodman and John Wooley being the patentees. On the old map of Eastchester, there is marked a side road "leading to the Whitestone Ferry"; which establishes the fact of a ferry from some point on Eastchester Creek to the opposite side of the Sound. These ferries were probably maintained in a rude boat, a large dug- out, called a periauger, capable of carrying passengers, but not horses
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and cattle. The Harlem ferryboat was a large scow built for the pur- pose of carrying heavy animals and wagons, as we can see by the rates of toll. The East River, or Sound, was narrow at the points of passage, so that communication was easy; for animals and wagons, sloops were used. Long Island, in comparison with Westchester County, was thickly settled, so that a ready and easy means of communication was not only convenient, but necessary. The Long Island settlements were nearer to the County of Westchester than New York City; and a trip to the city by land was long and tedious, as the traveler had to go by way of Spuyten Duyvil Creek; while by water, the voyager had to en- counter all the terrors of Hell Gate, a mighty bugbear in the early days before Fulton planned his "folly" and introduced steam navigation.
The ferry around The Bronx in the olden times came to be repre- sented in a more modern time by the ferry from The Bronx to Col- lege Point. It was established in 1887. The equipment consisted at first of one single-deck boat and two very primitive ferry slips, one at each terminal, New York, at the foot of East Ninety-ninth Street and at College Point, at the foot of Third Avenue. In 1890 the control passed into the hands of another company, which improved the boat service by buying additional double-decked boats as well as increasing the terminal facilities. The boats were permitted to make landings at the then already very popular summer resort, North Beach. A market for Long Island farm products was also established at 102nd and 103rd streets, First Avenue and the East River, known as the Harlem Market. A new ferry was established also in The Bronx in 1902, and in summer time the boats are thronged for the passage to North Beach.
Steam Navigation-Steam navigation had begun to be practical for New York and its environs in the early part of the last century. It was in the waters of the Hudson and around The Bronx that the work obtained its first successes. The problem of the application of steam to the propulsion of vessels had engaged the attention of mechanicians for centuries. Papin, as early as 1690, in a printed book, had advocated steam as a universal motive power, and had given a rough draft of a paddle-wheel steamer. He even went so far as to construct a model steamboat, which was tried in 1707 upon the river Fulda, near Cassel, but does not seem to have been successful, as nothing further was heard of it. The next attempt of the kind was the "marine engine" of Jona- than Hulls, in 1736, intended for towing ships. This craft was notice- able for its use of the stern-wheel still common on Western steamboats, power being conveyed by means of bands. William Henry, a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania, moved a model boat by steam on Conestoga Creek, near its entrance into the Susquehanna River, in 1763.
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