How Is Jersey City the Gateway to Ellis Island?

How Is Jersey City the Gateway to Ellis Island?. Historic Walk. , Liberty State Park, across the Morris Canal, features the majestic Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, hundreds of acres of green space, and the State's only ferry access to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty., Once Neglected, Now New Jersey's "Gold Coast" , Liberty State Park is the most-visited park in the state, more than 4 million visitors enjoy its hundreds of acres of green space and numerous cultural attractions each year. For decades the CRRNJ Terminal at its center served immigrants and other passengers as well as this booming industrial area that was fed by an extensive freight network. Following decades of decay, as railroad use declined in the early to mid-1900, visionary locals would successfully advocate to reinvent the eyesore into a modern urban park, with a view as glorious as the Statue of Liberty, a mere half-mile away., How Preservationists Won the Day , Residents and Jersey City natives Audrey Zapp and Morris Pesin were among the tireless advocates who preserved the park's 1,200 acres of open space. Preservation efforts continue to this day, with the help of Friends of Liberty State Park and others., A Centerpiece that Highlights Park History , Now a ferry station and visitor's center, the CRRNJ Terminal occupies the park's northern end, which faces us here in Exchange Place. Its stunning Victorian architecture was lovingly restored and is now maintained by the state. By the turn of the 20th century, the CRRNJ Terminal would become New York Harbor's largest transit complex., You Can Still See , The Bush Train Shed of the CRRNJ Terminal, which appears on the western side, housed 20 tracks. It was the largest in the world that architect Abraham Lincoln Bush ever built (1914). Today it retains the original design, with arches over what were originally tracks. The site is listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places., [Timeline:] ,

1864: The Central Railroad of New Jersey (CRRNJ) completes construction of a waterfront terminal. A majestic new terminal, which you see today, would be completed 25 years later. , 1892: Ellis Island opens, ultimately processing 10 million people, two-thirds of the nation's immigrants. , 1967: The CRRNJ Terminal ceases operation, as trains are rerouted to Newark's Pennsylvania Station. The terminal would be restored in the 1970s. , 1976: In honor of the Bicentennial, Liberty State Park opens, thanks to Jersey City residents who fought to transform a dilapidated industrial area into a protected green space. , 2011: Dedication of the park's New Jersey Empty Sky Memorial and Grove of Remembrance commemorates the 749 people lost on September 11, 2011, who hailed from (or had personal connections to) the Garden State.