Bergen Street Line
Encyclopedia
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, running westbound mostly along Bergen Street, as well as eastbound on Dean Street (as part of a one-way pair
One-way pair
A one-way pair, one-way couple, or just couplet is a pair of parallel, usually one-way streets that carry opposite directions of a signed route or major traffic flow, or sometimes opposite directions of a bus or streetcar route....
), between downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City , and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn...
and Ocean Hill
Ocean Hill, Brooklyn
Ocean Hill is a subsection of Bedford-Stuyvesant in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Founded in 1890, the neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 3 and Brooklyn Community Board 16. The ZIP code for the neighborhood is 11233...
(earlier Red Hook
Red Hook, Brooklyn
Red Hook is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 6. It is also the location where the transatlantic liner, the , docks in New York City.- History :...
to City Line
City Line, Brooklyn
City Line is a sub-section of the East New York neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City, bordering the neighborhoods of Cypress Hills to the north and Ozone Park, Queens to the east, and the Shore Parkway to the south...
). Originally a streetcar line, it is now the B65 bus route, operated by the New York City Transit Authority
New York City Transit Authority
The New York City Transit Authority is a public authority in the U.S. state of New York that operates public transportation in New York City...
.
History
The South Brooklyn and Bergen Street Railroad was organized under the general railroad law and opened by 1865 from Hamilton Ferry along Sackett Street (including part of the Brooklyn City Rail Road's Furman Street LineFurman Street Line
The Furman Street Line was a street railway line in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, running along Furman Street from Cobble Hill to Fulton Ferry.-History:...
), Hoyt Street, and Bergen Street to Classon Avenue. The Bergen Street Railroad was merged into the Brooklyn and Canarsie Railroad, and on September 21, 1866 an extension to Canarsie Landing (where steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
s connected for Rockaway
Rockaway, Queens
The Rockaway Peninsula, informally The Rockaways, is the name of a peninsula of Long Island, all of which is located within the New York City borough of Queens. A popular summer resort area since the 1830s, Rockaway has become a mixture of lower, middle, and upper-class neighborhoods...
) along Bergen Street, Nostrand Avenue
Nostrand Avenue
Nostrand Avenue is a major street in Brooklyn, New York, that runs north from Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay to Flushing Avenue in Williamsburg, where it continues as Lee Avenue. From Flushing Avenue to Farragut Road, Nostrand Avenue is a two-lane street...
, Clove Road
Clove Road
Clove Road is a north-south road in Staten Island. It runs from Richmond Terrace in the West New Brighton neighborhood to Hylan Blvd in the Grasmere neighborhood. It is served by the S53 local bus south of Broadway and the X14 express bus south of Martling Avenue...
, Little Lane, and Canarsie
Canarsie, Brooklyn
Canarsie is a neighborhood in the southeastern portion of the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City, United States. The area is part of Brooklyn Community Board 18....
's main street (the last three partially gone) was opened. It was the second line to Canarsie, arriving a year after the Brooklyn and Rockaway Beach Railroad, and was a failure, being foreclosed on January 13, 1868. The original portion, west of the stables at Bergen Street and Classon Avenue, was sold on February 14, 1868; the rest was sold on September 15, 1868. None of the extension to Canarsie was ever used again.
The South Brooklyn and Park Railroad acquired the line to Classon Avenue on June 1, 1870, and was again sold on June 19, 1877 as the South Brooklyn Central Railroad. It was authorized in 1878 to build a branch in Bergen Street from Hoyt Street west to Court Street, use the Brooklyn City Railroad
Brooklyn City Railroad
The Brooklyn City Railroad was the oldest and one of the largest operators of streetcars in the City of Brooklyn, New York, continuing in that role when Brooklyn became a borough of New York City in 1898....
trackage in Court Street, and use the Atlantic Avenue Railroad
Atlantic Avenue Railroad
The Atlantic Avenue Railroad was a railroad company in the U.S. state of New York, with a main line connecting downtown Brooklyn with Jamaica along Atlantic Avenue. It was largely a streetcar company that operated its own trains, but the Long Island Rail Road operated both streetcars and steam...
trackage in Atlantic Avenue and Furman Street to the Wall Street Ferry at Montague Street. The Atlantic Avenue Railroad leased the South Brooklyn Central, then extending to Bergen Street and Albany Avenue, on February 2, 1885. The Atlantic Avenue Railroad laid tracks in Boerum Place from Atlantic Avenue south to Bergen Street to connect the lines, as an extension of its Adams Street and Boerum Place Line
Adams Street and Boerum Place Line
The Adams Street and Boerum Place Line was a public transit line in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City, United States, running along Boerum Place and Adams Street...
.
The line reached Rochester Avenue by 1897. Eventually the Bergen Street Line cars turned south on Buffalo Avenue, east on the St. Johns Place Line
St. Johns Place Line
The St. Johns Place Line is a public transit line in Brooklyn, New York, mainly along Atlantic Avenue, Washington Avenue, Sterling Place, and St. Johns Place between Downtown Brooklyn and Crown Heights...
trackage along St. Johns Place and East New York Avenue, and east along Liberty Avenue to City Line
City Line, Brooklyn
City Line is a sub-section of the East New York neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City, bordering the neighborhoods of Cypress Hills to the north and Ozone Park, Queens to the east, and the Shore Parkway to the south...
.
At some point, the west end was truncated to the intersection of Smith Street and Sackett Street. Buses were substituted for streetcars on July 20, 1947. The B65 bus has been truncated more, only running from downtown east to Ocean Hill; the B12 bus, started by the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation
Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation
The Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation was an urban transit holding company, based in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, and incorporated in 1923. The system was sold to the city in 1940 and today, together with the IND subway system, form the B Division of the New York City Subway...
as a new route in 1931, later covered Liberty Avenue out to City Line until it was truncated to Broadway Junction in 2010.