Furman 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

When the Brooklyn City Rail Road was granted franchises in 1853, one of them was through Furman Street from Atlantic Avenue north to Fulton Ferry. [Brooklyn Daily Eagle, City Railroads - Report of the Railroad Committee, December 20, 1853, page 2] The City Railroad did not begin construction until late 1859; [Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Supreme Court, November 25, 1859, page 3] it was claimed by one side that this was only done after the Brooklyn Central and Jamaica Railroad threatened (and later received permission) to build it, [Brooklyn Daily Eagle, The Fare on the City Railroads, December 28, 1859, page 2] [Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Common Council, May 1, 1860, page 2] and by the other side that the City Railroad had delayed until it was clear that the Central Railroad would stop using steam propulsion to South Ferry (which happened September 30, 1861). [Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Office Brooklyn City Railroad Co., October 1, 1860, page 2] The line was opened by June 1860, [Brooklyn Daily Eagle, City Railroads, June 2, 1860, page 3] and the Central Railroad also used it from their track on Atlantic Avenue, [Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Obstructing City Railroads, August 30, 1860, page 3] but only until September. [Brooklyn Daily Eagle, The Furman Street Railroad, September 29, 1860, page 3]

In October, the Board of Aldermen decided that neither company had the right to use the tracks, since the City Railroad had been given a completion deadline of December 1, 1857, and that if the two companies did not come to an agreement within five days, the Central Railroad would have the right to operate trains in Furman Street. [Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Board of Aldermen, October 23, 1860, page 2] The City Railroad continued to operate [Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Special Notices, November 2, 1860, page 3] A compromise was finally agreed to in late February 1861, in which the City Railroad would allow the Central Railroad to use the Furman Street Line, and the Central Railroad would allow the City Railroad to cross it at Furman Street and Atlantic Avenue. [Brooklyn Daily Eagle, All's Well that Ends Well, February 26, 1861, page 3] [Brooklyn Daily Eagle, The Railroad Difficulty Settled, March 18, 1861, page 3]

References