St. George Terminal on Staten Island serves both the Staten Island Ferry and the Staten Island Railroad. Ferries travel approximately five miles to Whitehall Terminal in Manhattan's Financial District. The location of the terminal was chosen because it was the closest point between Manhattan and Staten Island. Talks of a constructing a ferry terminal at this location began as early as the 1870s. In 1886, the original St. George Terminal was constructed out of wood. The terminal would serve a ferry line and the Staten Island Railroad's newest extension. The wood terminal was lost to a fire in 1946, leading to the construction of a new station in 1951. Presently, the ferry runs a 24-hour service between Staten Island and Manhattan. The railway station is one of the last direct rail-sea connections in the United States.