Passaic station was a railway station for the Erie Railroad in downtown Passaic, New Jersey. The station sat in the center of Main Street at the corner of Madison Street. Though there were three other stations in the city—Prospect Street and Passaic Park to the east, and Harrison Street to the west—the simply named Passaic station was the primary station for the city, located at grade in the busiest section of its main business street.
History
Construction and opening (1829–1832) Proposals for a railroad through Acquackanonk Township came in 1829 when an appeal was made to the New Jersey State Legislature. Members of the town of Paterson and multiple manufacturers petitioned the Legislature to approve a new railroad to help transport goods to the Hudson River. Roswell Colt, a local industrialist, worked with engineer John Sullivan to help design and imagine a new railroad through the area the year prior. Due to a recent economic depression, manufacturers found it important to ship their products in winter months, which was difficult when local roads were obstructed and/or closed. Seeing the benefit of railroads in Europe, they felt a railroad should be built between Paterson and New York City since it could run all year, unlike stagecoach travel. Paterson officials also noted that the railroad would help communities outside municipal limits, bringing more manufacturers. Agricultural conveyors would also have the benefit of being able to ship to other places instead of delivering via stagecoach.
The new railroad would begin in Paterson and cross through Acquackanonk Township, where it would cross the Passaic River via a drawbridge into Berry's Hill (later Carlton Hill). The railroad then would cross the Hackensack River, through Bergen Ridge into a location that would reach the ferries in both Hoboken and nearby Jersey City.
Despite the locals saying they would equally benefit from the completion of the Morris Canal, then under construction, the Morris Canal did file a letter to the Legislature on January 11, 1830, that noted their opposition to the railroad project. Feeling that they were aligned into Paterson because of some arm-wrangling, the canal company called the Legislature ignorant of these issues and that the railroad would not meet the same financial efficiency the canal would, despite that the stagecoach being eliminated would eliminate as much as $30,000 (1830 USD) in costs for locals. The Morris Canal and Banking Company also noted that there were protections built into the incorporation preventing them from "undue competition". However, those were written as competition from rival canals. The company used the same argument with the railroad, which would run near the canal. They also objected, suggesting that it would obstruct the flow of the Passaic and Hackensack rivers.
Those in support of the railroad did respond in the Paterson Intelligencer, noting that their arguments were invalid due to the "undue competition" clause only focusing on rival canalway construction. Noting that, they pressured the Legislature to fall on their side and grant them a charter for construction of the new railroad.
On February 5, 1830, a meeting was held in Paterson where they made multiple official resolutions. The first would note that they wanted the expedience on construction of the new railroad (if a charter was acquired). The second was to note that they denied the claims of the Morris Canal and Banking Company about "injurously affecting the interests." Their notes were to find that the railroad would help benefit the canal. They also noted that they needed a railroad because it would provide the cheaper transportation options in winter, when the canal would be out of service at times due to weather. They also assigned a committee to help get the job done.
It would take a third try for the railroad to get a charter from the Legislature. This occurred on January 31, 1831, when the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad Company came into existence. The railroad was granted the right to build then operate a railroad from the town of Paterson to a point on the Hudson River. However, the incorporation did not take effect until February 3. Subscriptions (equity investments) to help pay for the new railroad were solicited to be delivered by March 2 at the Passaic Hotel in Paterson. The response to the opening of railroad subscriptions was positive, with the $50 shares being overwhelmed. Future Governor of New Jersey Philemon Dickerson became the first president of the railroad.
Construction began on April 22 when the railroad surveyors began planning out the route. This job was completed in June 1831, when they finished surveying the route from Paterson to Acquackanonk along with the route through the Boiling Springs area of Union Township (now Rutherford and East Rutherford, New Jersey) to the Meadowlands. On July 4, 1831, the ground was broken for construction of the railroad, starting with the terminal in Paterson. Brigadier General Abraham Godwin, a member of the town of Paterson group that was instrumental in obtaining the company a charter, signaled the start with a pickaxe, followed by Dickerson doing the first shoveling. Full construction began on July 11. The new railroad was made of iron tracks and wooden ties with a wide gauge.
Construction of the railroad between Acquackanonk and Paterson was completed on May 1, 1832. On May 28, railroad service commenced on the long stretch between Acquackanonk and Paterson. Railcars built by J.L. Young and Company of Newark were brought to the area and attached to horses at a barn at Main Avenue and Prospect Street. People as far as Sussex County rode down to look at the new red railroad cars in the barn. The opening was well-attended, with people crowding the platform in Acquackanonk, along with the car steps and the roofs of cars. The railroad, the second ever to operate in the state of New Jersey, was horse-driven, running at a rate of . By June 21, the railroad had six trains a day in each direction, starting at 7 am and ending at 7 pm, except for Sunday when it was 6 am to 7:30 pm.
Service expansion, station relocation and two renames (1832–1854) With the railroad operating from Franklin's Crossing (the intersection of Main Avenue and Pennington Avenue in Passaic) to Paterson, expansion was inevitable. Construction continued east through Acquackanonk to get service out to the Hudson River. Service crossed the Passaic River into Boiling Springs in 1832. Construction of the railroad was underway by January 1833. By November 13, the Paterson Intelligencer noted that the railroad would likely open for expanded service to the Bergen Hill section of Jersey City around December 1. However, the first train to Jersey City came on November 19, 1833, with regular service commencing on November 24. On October 20, 1834, service was expanded to the area known as Marion Junction, reaching the Hudson River.
In April 1835, the McNeill, a steam engine, reached New Jersey from England, built by Robert Stephenson and Company of Newcastle. It came into service in June 1835, resulting in the mix of steam engines and horse-driven railcars. The steam engine from Jersey City was an express, only making stops in Acquackanonk and Paterson, skipping Passaic Bridge and Boiling Spring. After a new locomotive, Whistler, was acquired, horse service was discontinued at the end of 1835, with the horses going up for auction on January 9, 1836.
By early 1838, there was local approval and requests to continue the railroad from Paterson to the New York state line where it would meet the New York and Erie Railroad, which was built through Rockland County. In 1831, after the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad was chartered, a group reached out to petition for a railroad from Paterson on north. The bill was passed on November 30, and a charter was created for the Ramapo and Paterson Railroad. However, no railroad was ever built and the charter expired. In November 1840, a new petition was filed by the Paterson and Hudson River to have their charter amended for an extension to Ramapo, New York. The proposal was then split out into its own company; Governor William Pennington signed the amended charter bill on March 10, 1841, creating the Paterson and Ramapo Railroad. Like the predecessor railroad, the Paterson and Ramapo would have $50 shares, with a capital stock of $400,000. Construction of this railroad began on June 16, 1847, with the survey already completed. Progress was made quickly through 1847 and 1848, with the expectation on February 15, 1848, that the railroad could be opened by July 1. Service on the railroad commenced on October 19, 1848, providing access to the New York and Lake Erie Railroad through Acquackanonk.
That year, the Passaic station, which was just an old freight car, was moved from its location at Prospect Street to the Road to the Point, which ran along modern day Park Place. This move brought the station in front of the People's Bank Building on Main Avenue, where Cornelius Huyler operated a saloon. This saloon, commonly known as The Tap House on the Hill, also contained a lunch room. Running from owner to owner, the business was poor and Huyler moved on, becoming the ticket agent for the railroad at Acquackanonk. By April 1851, the station was renamed from Acquackanonk to Huyler's.
On September 9–10, 1852, ownership of the railroads, along with the Union Railroad (a New York entity), came under the control of the New York and Erie Railroad via a lease. The Whistler and the McNeill along with 2 other locomotives, Passaic and Paterson, were given to the Erie as part of the deal. By November 1853, the New York and Erie railroad established new track along the line, completed on November 14 through Huyler's. On November 21, 1853, the first train ran between Jersey City and the Erie's terminal in Dunkirk, New York.
In 1854, Albert Speer, a local resident, requested that the name of the community be changed from Acquackanonk to Passaic. The post office in Acquackanonk was known as Acquackanonk, while the railroad station was Huyler's. At a meeting at the Eutaw House on modern-day River Drive on February 15, 1854, Speer brought up his complaints to the town officials, the locals wanted to stand with the name Acquackanonk over changing it to Passaic. However, Speer did get favorable townspeople to sign a petition for the post office to be renamed to Passaic from Acquackanonk. Speer brought the proposal to Washington, D.C., and got approval from the post office for the name change. On April 25, 1854, the name change went into effect on the railroad, but not after Speer and a few local residents went and made a sign denoting the new name. Speer changed the signs on Huyler's, replacing it with the handmade Passaic sign. With the railroad, who never protested, and the post office in cahoots on a new name, objection was not raised and the name of Passaic stood.
Station relocation, community development and near destruction (1862–1879)