page_title: Essex Street station (NJ Transit)
section_title: Hackensack and New York Railroad
hierarchical_section_title: Essex Street station (NJ Transit) / History / Hackensack and New York Railroad
caption_attribution_description: English: A postcard dating 1907 of the Essex Street Station in Hackensack, New Jersey.
context_page_description: Essex Street, known as Hackensack during the Erie Railroad era, is a New Jersey Transit rail station on the Pascack Valley Line, located in Hackensack, New Jersey, at 160 John Street. The Pascack Valley Line services this station seven days a week.
  The first station house was built in 1860 by the Hackensack and New York Railroad on a track extension from Passaic Street in Hackensack. The station was turned over to the Erie Railroad in 1896, serving as a partial headquarters before being moved to Hillsdale and New Jersey Transit in 1983. The station was once the southernmost of four stations in Hackensack, which included stations at Anderson Street, Fairmount Avenue, and Central Avenue.
context_section_description: The original alignment of the Essex Street station dates back to the chartering of the Hackensack and New York Railroad in 1856 by David P. Patterson and other investors. Their intent in creating the rail line was to help maintain a steam-powered train line in the Pascack Valley and have future ambitions to build the system northward. Construction on the new 21-mile (34 km) long line began in 1866, with trains heading from New York City to the Passaic Street station in Hackensack. Although Hackensack was not a large hub, there were several rail lines serving the city, including the New Jersey Midland Line (now the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad) with stops at Main Street (at the Mercer Street intersection) and at Prospect Avenue. During the 1860s, service was extended to north, terminating at the new Essex Street station. Although most Hackensack and New York trains ended at Passaic Street, service was extended northward on September 5, 1869, when that stop was abandoned in replacement for three brand new stops: Anderson Street, Fairmount Avenue and Central Avenue.  By 1870, the tracks had been extended northward to Hillsdale, and public service began on the line on March 4 of that year. Trains terminated at Hillsdale with fare of only $0.75 (1870 USD), but just one year later, the service was extended northward to the community of Haverstraw, New York, and in 1896, the rail line was leased by the private company to the Erie Railroad.
caption: The former Hackensack depot in 1907
exif: {}