West 130th Street ferry, with service to points in New Jersey, ca. 1915. The West Harlem Piers sit at a low point between the bluffs of Morningside and Washington Heights, where Manhattan’s inhabitants have long accessed the waters of the Hudson River. In the early 1800s, Manhattan’s merchant class — and those seeking a more bucolic life — began to build country homes overlooking the Hudson River. By 1808, ferry service connected the new village of Manhattanville to New Jersey. A century later, Irving Underhill’s photo includes placards advertising services to Newark, Englewood, Paterson, Rutherford, Edgewater, Hackensack, Leonia, Fort Lee, and Tenafly. Ferry service was discontinued in 1965 when the pier was demolished.

Except for the Bronx, New York City is made up exclusively of islands! In fact, this city is made up of over 500 miles of coastline. Take a look at the waterways that surround the islands of the Five Boroughs.

Crowds gathered in Riverside Park, opposite the West Harlem Piers, for the fireworks show opening the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, September 25, 1909. The celebration jointly commemorated the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery of the Hudson River and the 100th anniversary of Robert Fulton’s East River Ferry.