Primary source materials in this section may be viewed in the library reading room by appointment. To make an appointment, interested users can email [email protected] This list of materials is not intended to be comprehensive. Interested users should also search BHS’s finding aids portal for additional materials.
Conkling family papers, ca. 1782-1798
Call number: ARC.284
0.25 linear feet
Link to finding aid.
Collection includes one 1782 Brooklyn-Manhattan ferry pass granting David Conkling permission to make a two way journey. Shows that permission to board the ferry was granted by the Jamaica Police.
Records relating to the Catherine Street Ferry, 1801
Call number: 1991.019
0.01 linear feet
Link to finding aid.
Small collection that includes six proposals and one letter of recommendation to the Common Council of Brooklyn to begin the operation of the Catherine Street Ferry.
Catherine and Main Street Ferry Company records, 1812-1845
Call number: 1977.051
0.42 linear feet
Link to finding aid.
Included in the records are account books, bills for construction and repair, inspection certificates, and receipt books for wages paid to employees.
Brooklyn Waterfront and Ferries, 1816-1890 (Series 6) in the Pierrepont family papers
Call number: ARC. 263, Series 6, boxes 4, 5, 6
1.1 linear feet
Link to finding aid.
This series documents the Union Ferry Company through correspondence, legal agreements, leases, corporate formation documents, and court filings. A good deal of it documents negotiations between the ferry company, and the cities of New York and Brooklyn regarding property and franchise rights. The Fulton Ferry, South Ferry and Hamilton Avenue Ferry are well represented in the series, along with reference to Manhattan locations, such as the Wall Street Ferry. The Atlantic Dock Company and Williamsburgh Ferry Company are also represented.
Box 4 folder 9 concerns the 1852 ferry pilot’s strike. Box 4 folder 11 contains information relating to the Union Ferry Company’s use of electric lights (1883) in an experiment to replace gas.
Material printed by the Supreme Court of New York regarding ferry rights (1820s-1880s) is present in box 5 and 6. Also included is an incomplete handwritten manuscript of H.E. Pierrepont’s Historical Sketch of the Fulton Ferry and its Associated Ferries, along with correspondence, notes and other materials compiled in connection with the history. Also see Series 3 for maps and related material.
Brooklyn ferries legal records, 1822-1878
Call number: 1986.046
0.42 linear feet
Link to finding aid.
Included in the records are leases, laws, and published court proceedings relating to several Brooklyn ferry operations. The leases are of the Fulton Street, South Street, and Hamilton Avenue ferries.
New-York and Brooklyn Steam Ferry Boat Company toll books, 1824-1837
Call number: 1977.030
0.16 linear feet
Link to finding aid.
This collection contains three toll books of the New-York and Brooklyn Steam Ferry Boat Company dating from 1825 to 1826, 1828 to 1829, and 1836 to 1837. The toll books record the weekly ferry toll received on the Brooklyn side, and list daily receipts signed by the ferry master upon turning in the weekly total.
Brooklyn roads records, 1823-1825
Call number: 1977.337
0.75 linear feet
Link to finding aid.
Fulton Ferry folder contains an 1837 Ferry Company petition to put in a straight fence on their property on Fulton Ferry, to protect their property and give the public a more convenient place to wait for the boats.
Unnamed ferry line subscribers agreement, 1833
Call number: 1974.251
0.01 linear feet
Link to finding aid.
List of subscribers (23 total) to an unnamed ferry line, to be opened south of the Fulton Ferry, likely South Ferry, which opened in 1836.
Catherine and Main Street Ferry broadside, 1844 in the Teunis G. Bergen and Bergen family collection
Call number: ARC.006, box 18, folder 26
0.1 linear feet
Link to finding aid.
Advertisement for reduced fare on the Catherine and Main Street Ferry, called Bownes’ Ferry. Includes detailed fee schedule for foot passengers, passengers with horses, wagons, and a variety of different kinds of freight or goods.
Brooklyn Ferry Company indenture, 1859
Call number: 1978.195
0.08 linear feet
Link to finding aid.
Purchasing agreement from the Long Island Ferry Company to the Brooklyn Ferry Company for rights of land, boats, and licenses, etc.
Harry A. Meyer scrapbooks, 1888-1934
Call number: 1977.193
2.5 linear feet
Link to finding aid.
Box 1 includes a scrapbook commemorating the 1925 launch of the municipal ferry boat Henry A. Meyer. Other scrapbooks have material related to Meyer’s work with the New York City Docks Department, including Jamaica Bay and the Staten Island Ferry.
69th Street Brooklyn Ferry Corporation rate schedule notices, 1966
Call number: 1978.134
0.05 linear feet
Link to finding aid.
This collection contains one rate schedule, and one announcement for new rates, for the Brooklyn 69th Street Ferry Corporation, operating between 69th Street Brooklyn, in Bay Ridge, and Staten Island.
Water Street Associates collection on the Fulton Ferry Landing proposal, 1971
Call number: 1990.027
0.5 linear feet
Link to finding aid.
This collection contains reproductions of architectural renderings, elevations, and plans created by the firm Water Street Associates for its proposal for the renewal of the Fulton Ferry Landing neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y. Materials date from 1971.
Transportation–ferries (Series 9), n.d. in Brooklyn Ephemera collection
Call number: ARC.272, Series 9, folders 8 and 9
Link to finding aid.
Included in folder 8: Envelope of Union Ferry tickets for foot passenger, cart; Fulton and South St Ferry tickets; Hamilton Ave ferry tickets; Pamphlet advertising ferry to statue of liberty, leaving from Bay Ridge; Brooklyn-Staten Island ferry (69th street ferry) Summer 1964 schedule; Schedule for the steamer Armenia, from Brooklyn to Newburgh (upstate); New York and New Jersey Steam boat ferry co. 1 cent ticket; Formal invitation to view the Atlantic Dock Company docks via Hamilton Ave ferry, 1846; Atlantic Transport Line, SS Minneapolis program of sports (field day activities), 1910; Whitestone Ferry tickets (horse and wagon, man and horse), 1824; Future planning document for Fulton Ferry Landing Maritime Museum, 1984. Included in folder 9: Union Ferry tickets and ephemera; envelopes of Union Ferry tickets; Union Ferry stock certificates listing managers names.