Newark's many rail road stations

 

Central Rail Road of N.J. train passing Ballentine's in the Ironbound. 

East Ferry Street station near Saint Francis Street. 

East Ferry Street Central RR station in a 1912 map. 

Central RR of NJ path crossed Union St., Prospect St., Congress St., Jefferson St. up to Saint Francis Street where there was an elevated station. 

Broad Street Station.

11 November 1918, Armstice Day in Newark

 

Armstice Day celebrations on the corner of Broad and Market Streets. Nov. 1918.

Broad & Market corner 3 years earlier, 1915.  

Broad & Market corner in 1920. 

Churches

 

1st Presbyterian Church steeple on Broad Street; Town Hall in the background.

First Presbyterian Church on Broad St. in 1914.

circa 1900.

Broad Street in 1921; 1st Presbyterian Church on the left. 

Broad Street in 1920; Central N.J. Railroad Terminal on the left. Town Hall & Grace Church on the background. Grace Church in Newark  is a historic Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Newark, founded in 1837, it has occupied a building on Broad Street in Newark, N.J. since 1848. It worships in the Anglo-Catholic tradition.

2nd Dutch Reformed Church on Ferry & McWhorter in the 1980s.

Ferry Street corner with Union Street in the 1960s. 

NEWARK in 1916 map

 

Newark, NJ. 1916 map. One can see the Passaic River winding its way to Newark Bay; the Ironbound stands at the bend of the river; Kearny & Arlington are on the other side of the Passaic River and so is Harrison where the Pennsylvannia Railroad forks to the right and south to Newark. Manhattan's downtown area can be seen further up in the New York Bay. Brooklyn is further west. Richmond is across the NY Bay. 

A 1916 map of Newark looking east. The Ironbound is the darker area just above the center. Branch Brook Park is on the left and Weequahic Park is on the right. West Side Park is between Woodland Cemetery and Fairmount Cemetery with Holy Septulchre Cemetery just below Fairmount Cemetery. There isn't any Garden State Parkway. The Submarine Boat Company is in the upper right quadrant (The majority of builds were ships).

The historic junction of Center Street and River Street in downtown Newark, N.J., sat near Front St. and Mulberry St. alongside the Passaic River corridor. Portions of these historic downtown alignments, including old River and Front streets, were largely subsumed or renamed during the mid-20th-century construction of McCarter Highway (Route 21).

The Aronson Square area: River Street historically intersected near Mulberry and Center streets in a bustling commercial and transit hub close to early industrial waterfront operations.

The Center/Centre Street Bridge: Connected Newark to Harrison across the Passaic River, historically serving the local Pennsylvania Railroad and rapid transit lines before being decommissioned and replaced by downstream infrastructure.

Modern Transit: The general vicinity is served today by the Newark Light Rail at the NJPAC/Centre Street station.

Newark's South St. station.

The South Street Station opened in 1903, with the raising of the tracks above street level and featured a waiting room, restrooms, baggage area, a telegraph office & an newsstand. The station replaced the Chestnut Street Station which utilized the ground level tracks. The station underwent reconstruction in 1935, reopening in 1937.

Virgil Lanni wrote at Facebook: The station building and most of the bricks from the platform have been gone since the 1970s. I used to see the bricks and say, 'Hey I could use some!'. The stairways to the street have been gone for a long time as well.

1927 map showing South Street Station and freight yard (at street level)

Lackawanna Station.

The Erie Railroad merged with the Delaware, Lacawanna & Western Railroad on 17 October 1960 to form the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. On 1st April 1976, the Erie Lacawanna Railroad become part of Conrail.

Rich Mirocco wrote in Facebook: And they used to cancel trains, especially on the weekends and just not run.

Doug Douglass wrote: DL&W = Delay, Linger & Wait.

Erie Lackawanna Station platform access from High Street, Newark, NJ. 

Lucye Millerand wrote in Facebook:  and again,  in the background, the steeple of the Episcopal Church's House of Prayer.

Morris & Essex Railroad Station in 1909. 

PENNSYLVANIA STATION through the years

 

Market Street Pennsylvania station, in 1897.

Newark's Old Pennsylvania Railroad station on South Market Street.

Pennsylvania RR Station post card. 

A Penn Central train exiting Penn Station in Newark.

James Boral wrote in Facebook: between 1968 & 1976. After that, Conrail would take over and the Penn Central Logos would disappear from these electrics. And the coaches would be gone by early 1980s, replaced by Jersey Arrows. I would say mid-late 1970s for the completed office building in the background.

Eric Zeliff wrote: It could be going to New Brunswick, Trenton or South Amboy, maybe turned at Rahway.

Jorge Olivera wrote: Last stop upper level Penn Station coming from NYC which is PATH today or what is know as NJ Transit today or Amtrak.

David O'Hara wrote: As a little kid, I went to the Jersey Shore from here. Also by bus in front of Prudential. My mother had it lined up with somebody cause I remember she wasn’t with us and our grandmother was at the other end. You never forget the summer heat in Newark. Whenever I go down and it’s hot it reminds me of the past especially in August. 

Breweries

 

Hensler Brewery on Wilson Avenue in Newark, NJ. The brewery, known for its long run from 1855 to 1958, was situated between Wilson Ave. and Alyea Street.Today, the site of this brewery is occupied by Wilson Apartments building.

Kat Belle wrote at Facebook: My grandfather worked for Hensler and then Pabst. My dad worked for Ballantine.

Edward Martins wrote: Newark at one time was the Beer capital of the world. More breweries in Newark than any other place in the world.

Kath Muzik wrote: I lived on Hensler Street. My family still has a home there. I watched  them tear the building down. They built Path Mark in its place. I worked there as a teen. 

Albert Saggau wrote: I remember when they demolished the Hensler Brewery, it was around 1965. They built a Shop-rite there, which later became Pathmark. There was an A&P on Laffayette St near Wilson Ave.  When Shop-rite opened up,  A&P struggled and so did Acme, on Wilson Ave near Garrison Street!

Ironbound in 1912. Bremen Street would be renamed Marne St.; Berlin Street would be renamed Rome St.; Paris Street, was actually originally named Frankfort St. It was renamed Paris St. in June 1918 as part of a citywide effort to eliminate German street names during World War I. Similarly, the street originally named Dresden Street was renamed London St. during that same ordinance.

The Newark Cork Works, on Barbara Street to Komorn St. after World War I. 

Ballantine's Breweries & Malt Houses on the Passaic River, in Newark, in 1906. 

Ballantine City then...

Ballantine City today, 2026. On top-centre you see the Prudential Apartments building; the steeple on its right-hand side belongs to Roman Catholic Saint Aloysius Church on 66 Fleming Avenue. The road leading straight to Passaic River is Brill Street. 

Ballentine fleet park 

Olden Ironbound

 

Ironbound Trust Company, on the corner of Market St. and Ferry St. in the 1920s.

a closer look at the bank & Ferry Street with its trams & ladies in white.

Tram car going up Ferry Street towards Kerney, in the 1930s.

30 Ferry Street, in the 1950s.

Ironbound Trust Company at Market & Ferry Streets original project with 3 big windows; the real thing turned out to have 8 windows. It was built in 1909 and opened in 1910. 

Ferry with Union Street, in the 1960s. 

Ferry with Prospect Street in 1971. 

Marilyn Cruz with Prospect Street in the background, in 1942.

144 Ferry Street, next to Adams Street, in the 1940s; Harry Fein Furniture & Corsets.

186 Ferry St. with Van Buren St.; Portuguese Pitta's Bakery. 

199 Ferry Street, corner with Polk Street.

Ferry Street in 1915, with Schlesinger's Shoes on the right & Saint Stephen's, a German church serving the German community. The tram-car crosses Van Buren Street.

St. Stephan's Church, on Ferry Street & Hamburg Place.

East Ferry Street with Wall Street. 

Tram car aka trolley in Eastern Ironbound, just below the Pulaski Skyway, in the 1930s.

Pulaski Skyway, opened in 1932, the 3.5-mile long is a historic, elevated steel truss bridge in New Jersey connecting Newark and Jersey City. Known as an engineering marvel of its time, it cost $20 million to build. It is famously restricted to cars only, banning trucks since 1933 due to narrow, dangerous lanes.

The New Jersey Turnpike, opened between 1951 and 1952, was built in just 25 months to alleviate traffic on state roads. Spanning 118 miles, it was a pioneering modern toll road built for $255 million. It has since grown to 148 miles, famously featuring a "dual-dual" (12-14 lane) setup in its northern section.

Pulaski Skyway passes directly over the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95) in the Kearny and Newark area. While they cross each other geographically, they do not have a direct interchange; the Turnpike Extension (I-78) is often used to connect the two routes, especially during Skyway closures.

491 East Ferry Street, Kiell Louis, 1916.