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Over the River: 1905

Hoboken, New Jersey, circa 1905. "Holland America Piers with view of Manhattan across Hudson River." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative. View full size.

Hoboken, New Jersey, circa 1905. "Holland America Piers with view of Manhattan across Hudson River." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative. View full size.

 

On Shorpy:
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More on the Arlington

One of three identical propeller driven double-deck ferries, the Arlington was the first launched on November 21, 1903 at the Burlee Dry Dock Co., Port Richmond, Staten Island, NY. The other two boats were the Tuxedo, and the Goshen. Each was built by a different shipyard. They were 224 feet long, 64 feet wide, and drew 16.4 feet of water. Powered by two 1200 HP compound engines with steam supplied by two Scotch boilers at 150 PSI.
The Arlington was the first launched and the last in service closing out Erie Railroad ferry operations on December 12, 1958.

SS Potsdam

seems to be the liner to the right. She met her end in 1944, scuttled by the Germans in Cherbourg harbor.

Re: the Erie Ferry

I believe that the vessel's name is "Arlington" and that it is (was) owned by the Erie Railroad system. The "E" in the diamond was the logo for that rail line and one I used to see often in western New York when I was a kid.

The "Railroad Fleet"

Out of the huge fleet of barges, lighters, car floats, pier floats, ferries, tugs, etc. once owned by the railroads that served NY harbor, very few remain.

To my knowledge, only ONE covered barge, formerly owned by the Lehigh Valley, is still documented as an active vessel in the Hudson: Lehigh Valley #79, now owned by The Barge Museum and used as an exhibition and performance space.

The identity of the Erie ferry in the background could be a subject for some sleuthing. The word "Erie" on the side of the ship is probably just an owner's mark: the name of a double-ended ferry is usually on nameboards under the pilothouse windows.

It's washday aboard the New York Central covered barge; you can see a line of clothes drying. In those days, many barges had a live-aboard "barge captain" in charge.

In these days of sealed ocean shipping containers which are trans-loaded only as a unit, it's difficult to grasp that it was once economically possible to trans-load loose freight between ships, barges, and railcars, including "less than carload lots," which might have to be transloaded multiple times before reaching their destination.

They were different times.

Over the Top

Shorpy has done it again. This photo has it all from laundry hung out to dry, men in rowboats, the Uneeda Buscuit sign, oodles of wooden barrels with who knows what inside them, great Manhattan skyline, boxcars, boats, but no Brando. Bravo Shorpy!

Cunard has a ship in

I don't remember if we arrived at pier 51 or 52 when immigrated here, coming over on the Queen Elizabeth in, as my mother called it, steerage, more politely called tourist class.

Because the Cunard ship has three tall masts, it is probably either the Umbria or the Etruria, the last Cunard liners with auxiliary sails, built in 1884 and scrapped in 1910.

Midtown from Hoboken

Taken in 2010 from Frank Sinatra Drive. (With apologies to TimeAndAgainPhoto for the imprecision.)

Was at 5th Street.

The Hoboken Holland America facility operated from 1882-1963, and was a backdrop for much of the filming of the classic On the Waterfront. Nowadays, all of the Hoboken waterfront is park land with commercial shipping moved to Port Elizabeth and Port Newark. Brooklyn & Manhattan shipping is gone as well due to lack of rail access. Yes, you read that location correctly, Frank Sinatra Drive, named for the famous resident.

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