Harsimus Stem Embankment

Atop embankment at eastern end
Retaining wall
Stone support pier of viaduct which carried the line westward to what is now Journal Square

The Harsimus Stem Embankment, also called Sixth Street Embankment, is a half-mile-long historic railroad embankment, disused and largely overgrown with foliage, in the heart of the historic downtown of Jersey City, New Jersey in the United States. The 27-foot-high (8.2 m)[1] embankment runs along the south side of Sixth Street west from Marin Boulevard to Brunswick Street. It is the border between the Harsimus and Hamilton Park neighborhoods. The overhead tracks of the beam bridge west of Brunswick Street were dismantled but the stone abutments remain.[2]

This elevated stone structure was once owned and operated by Conrail and carried seven tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Passaic and Harsimus Line to its freight yards and carfloat operations on the Hudson River at Harsimus Cove, and to its warehouse and distribution facility (now Harborside Financial Center). The line was part of the railroad's holdings on the waterfront, which included the Exchange Place passenger terminal and the Greenville Yard. The Embankment is listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places, is eligible for the National Register, and is a Jersey City municipal landmark.[3]

  1. ^ Lynch, Jake (September 12, 2011). "High Hopes for the Harsimus Embankment: The Fight to Create an Elevated Rail-Trail in New Jersey". Rails-to-Trail Consevervancy. Retrieved September 25, 2011.
  2. ^ Martin, Antoinette (November 5, 2010). "Conflict in Jersey City Over a 'High Line' Park – In the Region". The New York Times.
  3. ^ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Hudson County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Historic Preservation Office. January 8, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 19, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2011.