Sunday, July 8, 2012

NYC Walking Tour - Fulton Ferry Landing


Fulton Ferry Landing ca.1889


Fulton Ferry is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is named for a prominent ferry line crossing the East River between  Manhattan and Brooklyn, and is also the name of the ferry slip on the Brooklyn side.

Though boats and sail ferries called at these locations since the 18th century, the inauguration of Robert Fulton's steam Fulton Ferry Company in 1814 established his name on the ferry service, which revolutionized travel between the then City of New York on Manhattan Island and the Village of Brooklyn and the rest of Long Island.

The opening of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883 assured the decline of this and other ferries on the East River. Fulton Ferry service ended in 1924. The major thoroughfares leading to the Fulton Ferry from both landings were (and are) named Fulton Street; see Fulton Street (Manhattan) and Fulton Street (Brooklyn).

The BMT Fulton Street Line and BMT Lexington Avenue Line (or "Old Main Line") elevated railways both ended at the Brooklyn side of the ferry, but were later moved with the majority of trips using the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Fulton Ferry District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Today, the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory sits on the Fulton Ferry pier, on the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge.

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