Bergen Point Plank Road

Bergen Point Plank Road
Route information
Existed1850–present
Major junctions
South endBergen Point, Bayonne, NJ
North endPaulus Hook, Jersey City, NJ
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNew Jersey
Highway system
Plank roads

The Jersey City and Bergen Point Plank Road was a road originally built in the 19th century in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States which ran between Paulus Hook and Bergen Point. The company that built the road received a charter on March 6, 1850[1][2][3] to improve one that had been built in the 18th century.[4][5] It has subsequently become Grand Street and Garfield Avenue in Jersey City and Broadway in Bayonne.[6] Plank roads were built during the 19th century, often by private companies as turnpike roads, in this case with a tollgate at Communipaw Junction.[7] As the name suggests, wooden boards were laid on a roadbed in order to prevent horse-drawn carriages and wagons from sinking into softer ground on the portions of the road.

The road traveled from the waterfront of North River (Hudson River) at Paulus Hook to Communipaw Junction, where a toll was collected. It then ran parallel to the Morris Canal through Greenville to Curries Woods.,[8] passing through Bayview – New York Bay Cemetery. Crossing the canal at Pamrapo, it proceeded south into Saltersville and Centerville ending at Bergen Point. Transfer to ferries to Elizabethport across Newark Bay and to Staten Island across Kill van Kull were possible.

See also

References

  1. ^ Unofficial New Jersey Route Log
  2. ^ Thomas F. Gordon, A Gazetteer of the State of New Jersey, 1834, pp. 17-18 Laws of the State of New Jersey, 1811, pp. 337-340
  3. ^ Timeline for the Founding and History of the City of Bayonne Archived September 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Bayonne Historical Society. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
  4. ^ "Petitions and Other Papers relating to Bridges, Canals, Dams, Ferries and Roads, 1765- 1835" (PDF). New Jersey State Archives Collection Guide. New Jersey Department of State. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  5. ^ "GET NJ — Jersey City and Its Historic Sites — Paulus Hook Ferry".
  6. ^ Hudson County New Jersey Street Map. Hagstrom Map Company, Inc. 2008. ISBN 978-0-88097-763-0.
  7. ^ "The Storm at Jersey City, Newark, and Paterson". The New York Times. August 8, 1853. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  8. ^ Greenville[permanent dead link‍]

40°43′02″N 74°03′42″W / 40.717119°N 74.061574°W / 40.717119; -74.061574