New York and Jersey Railroad Co. - 1902-1910 dated New Jersey Railway Stock Certificate

Stock printed by American Bank Note Company, New York. Attractive!

The New York and Jersey Railroad Company was a pivotal entity in the early 20th-century effort to establish a direct rail link between New Jersey and Manhattan. Formed on February 11, 1902, the company was created to take over and complete the long-stalled project of the Hudson Tunnel Railroad Company, which had begun drilling under the Hudson River decades earlier but was plagued by technical failures and financial ruin. Under the leadership of president William Gibbs McAdoo, a young lawyer who would later become the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, the company secured the necessary funding and engineering expertise to finally conquer the treacherous riverbed.

The company’s primary achievement was the successful breakthrough of the "uptown" tunnels, which connected Jersey City to Christopher Street in Manhattan. Chief engineer Charles M. Jacobs oversaw the completion of the north tube in 1904 and the south tube in 1905, marking the first time a physical rail connection existed between the two states. On December 1, 1906, the New York and Jersey Railroad was consolidated with other interests to form the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (H&M), which officially opened for passenger service in 1908. This infrastructure eventually became the foundation for today’s PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) rapid transit system.