The
Nyack Depot shown on this card was located along Depot Place (today's Railroad
Avenue) reaching to Cedar Hill Avenue. A steam locomotive is shown on the turntable
in the rear, where its direction is reversed for the return trip to Jersey
City. The railroad service to Nyack began in 1870 and at its peak, ran almost 20
trains daily, in both directions. The "Flyer" left Nyack around 8:00 a.m. each
morning, picked up commuters in South Nyack, Grandview, Piermont, and Sparkill,
and, after a nonstop run to Jersey City and a ferry ride across the river,
delivered its passengers to Wall Street in time for the 9:00 a.m. market
opening.
This
card shows Main Street (looking east) in the early part of the 20th Century. In
the foreground, on the left is the famous old department store, Harrison and Dalley. Most of the great buildings shown on the left, (north) side of Main
Street remain today. The south side of Main Street, which housed the old YMCA,
is almost unrecognizable today.
This card is
looking north on South Broadway from just below Burd Street, at around the early
part of the 20th century. The massive building on the left with the elaborate
mansard roof and tower is the old commercial building. It housed the Nyack
National Bank and the offices of many Nyack professionals. The top two stories
of this building were destroyed in a fire. Rather than rebuild the structure,
they simply cleared off the debris, and stuccoed over the rest to create today's
bland looking two story building. Today, that corner is the site of Maria
Louisa's popular fashion store. The narrow tall building behind the commercial
building was the Everett Hotel. The Pickwick Book Store presently occupies the
street level shop.
Ferry
Service across the Hudson dates back to 1834 when Isaac Blauvelt started the
first regular service with his small single-masted sailboat, named the "Donkey."
Other ferry services followed and were available from April to December, weather
permitting. Sail ferries were replaced by steam boats in 1878. John Lyon
captained the first steamboat, the "Tappan Zee" for 46 years, until he died at
age 86, in 1923. Several companies operated to provide ferry service to
Tarrytown and the competition was fierce. Reports of ferries colliding with one
another to be first into port were common as they fought for passengers. This
ferry boat, Rockland, came into service after the Tappan Zee was retired. Notice
the walking Beam engine between the pilot houses, which was used to propel the
ferry. Ferry serviced ceased after the opening of the Tappan Zee Bridge.
