A very happy 184th birthday to the New York & Harlem Railroad, New York City’s very first railroad, chartered on this day in 1831. Started as a humble street railroad using horses for motive power, it eventually grew to reach Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, and Columbia counties, and is the origin of today’s Harlem Line.
We’ve posted many things about the history of the Harlem Railroad over the years, so if you’re interested in taking a walk down memory lane, be sure to check some of these old favorites out:
• The Streetcars of the New York & Harlem Railroad
• 180 Years of History – the Harlem Railroad
• Remembering the Upper Harlem Line, Part 1
• Remembering the Upper Harlem Line, Part 2
• Remembering the Upper Harlem Line, Part 3
• Postcards on the Harlem Line
• Timetables of the Harlem Line
This is also the date that, in 1865, President Lincoln’s funeral train stopped in Poughkeepsie for fifteen minutes on it’s way from Washington, D.C., to Springfield, Illinois.
Emily , you truly are a New York & Harlem Railroad historian “nonpareil”; our sincere appreciation for the exceptional quality of the historical information you have shared with us.