Series I: New York & Harlem Railroad, 1836-1873, undated
Scope and Contents note
In 1831, the New York and Harlem Railroad received a charter from the State of New York to build tracks from the southern tip of Manhattan to Harlem. Because Harlem was quite rural at this time, the only existing travel means between Manhattan and Harlem were steamboats and stagecoaches. The New York & Harlem Railroad was built between 1837 and 1841 and extended from City Hall to the Harlem River, as in the original design. In 1840, the New York State legislature granted the New York and Harlem Railroad rights to build a bridge across the Harlem River and extend to the New York and Albany's Railroad Line. Gouverneur Morris, Jr, then on the Board of Directors of the railroad, was entrusted to purchase the land.
In 1846, the New York and Albany Company was sold and the New York and Harlem Railroad bought the rights to complete the line to Albany. By 1852, the New York and Harlem Railroad had been extended 131 miles to Chatham Four Corners, New York, where it connected to an existing railroad line that went to Albany. In 1864, Cornelius Vanderbilt acquired a majority of NY & HRR stock and by 1869 had consolidated the New York and Harlem Railroad with the New York and Hudson River Railroad to become the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad.
Most of the documents in this series relate to the Albany extension of the New York and Harlem Railroad, including the bridge built over the Harlem River. This series contains details on the progress of construction and includes estimates and plans as well as statements of work completed and payroll records. The documents illustrate to Gouverneur Morris's role in the railroad as a significant stockholder, a member of the Board of Directors, and a contractor with the company Morris, Miller, and Schuyler (Gouverneur Morris, George Schuyler and Sidney Miller) for building the railroad and its extension. Many of the property documents pertain to Gouverneur Morris since sections of the railroad were to be built through his property in Morrisiana. The large number of accounts, bills, and receipts in the series detail the materials, labor, and property needed to construct the railroad.
Sources:
Greene, Joseph Warren, Jr. New York City's First Railroad: The New York and Harlem (1832-1867). New York: s.n., 1926.
Hyatt, Elijah Clarence. The History of the New York & Harlem Railroad. Mount Kisco, New York: E. Clarence Hyatt, 1898.