TBT: The Original Pennsylvania Railroad / Harrison Path Station

The Throwback Thursday has us visiting a building that for a century served residents and commuters daily as the portal to the Eastbound PATH train to Jersey City / Hoboken / New York City. 

The station which was originally a Pennsylvania Railroad Station was as old as the Portal Bridge in Kearny.  The Portal Bridge in Kearny was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad as was the Manhattan Transfer Station located where the Bank of America is now on South Frank E. Rodgers Blvd. The Portal Bridge is over 111 years old.

The Manhattan Transfer Station was decommissioned although there are remnants of the station visible where the station was built.  As part of the Harrison Redevelopment plan, the Manhattan Transfer Station was supposed to be built but was not.  For more information read the article Harrison Missing 4 of 5 Redevelopment Promises. 

The Portal Bridge is also slated to be demolished but only after a new North Portal Bridge is built to replace it.  We think it would be a great idea if instead of demolishing the bridge that the Portal Bridge be restored to flawless operation so it could be used by the public and if necessary be available as an alternate or additional train track in case of the need to close the North Portal Bridge for repair or other reason. For more information on the Portal Bridge read the article Large Turnout for North Portal Bridge Ground Breaking

The demolishing of the original Harrison Path Station, instead of refurbishing it, in our opinion also made very little sense. It was a solid structure that could have housed an elevator and a stairwell built within the existing footprint.  The exterior was classic simplicity with its iconic arch, lettering and clock.

One question that is a mystery is who removed the clock and the Harrison lettering on the old Harrison Path Station.  Are the clock and Harrison lettering going to be reinstalled in the new Harrison Path Station?  If not, who ended up with the clock? 

What are your thoughts on the old Harrison Path Station?  What’s your opinion on whether the Harrison Redevelopment Agency should fulfill its plan to have the Manhattan Transfer Station rebuilt by NJ Transit and Conrail? Let Us Know Your Thoughts on our Community Discussion Board.  If you have not signed up yet to participate you can Sign Up now.