Rollin’ on the River

Living in the Past

By Dr. Harry C. Silcox
and Jack McCarthy
For the Times

As the number of people and cars in Northeast Philadelphia increased in the 1920s, there was a need for better access to New Jersey and the shore points.
Prior to 1922, you would have to travel to the Market Street Ferry in downtown Philadelphia if you wished to drive a car to New Jersey. You could also get to Atlantic City by train from Center City.
It became obvious that a profit could be made with a ferry line to New Jersey from Northeast Philadelphia, but where would it be located? While Frankford was the largest community in the Northeast, it was financially prohibitive to build a ferry at Frankford’s port at the foot of Bridge Street in Bridesburg. Cars heading to the ferry would overcrowd the streets, and it would be too expensive to enlarge streets and improve access to the ferry in these already-developed areas.
The leader of the group of investors wishing to establish the ferry line was Charles A. Wright, of Riverton, N.J. He was an influential businessman who had long dreamed of a direct connection to Pennsylvania. Wright formed the Tacony-Palmyra Ferry Co. in 1922 and was elected its president. He and Edward G. Borer negotiated the New Jersey side of the ferry, while a group of men headed by Thomas South and Peter Costello handled issues on the Pennsylvania side.
To them, the southern edge of Tacony at Levick Street seemed like the best site on the Pennsylvania side. Located in a thinly populated area between Tacony and Wissinoming, it had one great advantage: the nearby trolley barn and key transportation hub for the Holmesburg, Tacony and Frankford Trolley Co. at State Road and Levick Street, not far from the Delaware River.
Trolleys ran continuously from 6 a.m. to midnight from Holmesburg or Frankford to the Tacony barn on Levick Street.
From 1900 to the 1920s, the "Hop, Toad and Frog Line," as the trolley was called, was the most important line for the working public in the Northeast. With numerous companies located along State Road — firms like Dodge Steel, Disston Saw, American Glass Works and the Eben-Harding Textile Mill — the line provided a cheap way — just 5 cents — for workers from Frankford, Bridesburg, Holmesburg and Tacony to get to their jobs.
About 75 percent of the work force at the Eben-Harding Textile Mill, for example, reportedly was composed of Polish women who lived in Bridesburg. They got the trolley at Bridge Street and State Road to get to Tacony.
The Hop, Toad and Frog was the classic Toonerville Trolley Line. Featuring open cars covered by canvas during winter, with outside rear platforms and no heat, the line did not provide the most luxurious of rides. The cars became overcrowded at peak travel times and often required passengers to disembark at the Levick Street hill to push the trolley up the slope to Magee Street.
The line remained the major connection to the factories of Northeast Philadelphia until the late 1920s. The old car barn for the trolley still stands today — now it’s the Insinger building just south of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge.
The Levick Street location for the proposed ferry was ideal. The trolley provided transportation to the ferry for the major population centers of the Northeast, and there was enough open land and opportunities to improve automobile routes to the location without causing traffic congestion.
The private investment group bought up land cheaply, installed ferry docks on both sides of the river, purchased two used ferry boats and began organizing the company in early 1922.
Advertisements for the new ferry began to appear in newspapers, noting there would be no congestion or traffic jams for this "new route to the seashore."
Originally, the line was to operate between Tacony in Pennsylvania and Riverton in New Jersey, but protests by Riverton residents worried about traffic congestion forced a change of the New Jersey site.
A new location several miles away in Palmyra, at the foot of Cinnaminson Avenue, was chosen. On May 6, 1922, at 4 in the afternoon, the Tacony-Palmyra Ferry Co. opened for business.
Two ferries, the "Tacony" and the "Palmyra," left from the foot of Levick Street from 6 a.m. until midnight seven days a week, sailing the 4,800-foot distance in 15 minutes.
The "Tacony" had been purchased from the Gloucester Ferry Co.; the "Palmyra" was purchased from the Reading Railroad Co. The costs of the ferry was 5 cents for individuals and 45 cents for cars and trucks.
The "Palmyra" could carry 18 cars and several hundred passengers; the "Tacony" was a double-decker vessel that accommodated 36 cars and about 500 passengers. A 1,100-foot driveway at the foot of Levick Street provided parking space for those waiting for the ferry.
In 1925, the ferries carried 410,567 cars, 115,890 foot passengers, and 526,462 bus passengers.
The success of the line prompted the city of Philadelphia to pave Frankford Avenue, north of Longshore Avenue to Cottman Avenue, and to pave Cottman Avenue to the Montgomery County line to provide for east-to-west traffic to the ferry.
In addition to traffic and transportation to Tacony, there were larger social changes. The ferry site at the end of Levick Street became the location for numerous vendors selling New Jersey farm produce.
It was not long before the Jersey tomato, cheap, tasty and readily available, became the rage of the community. One only has to read the Disston Bits — the Disston company’s weekly newsletter — to appreciate the popularity of the vendors.
In fact, the markets and vendors along State Road were so popular that many housewives traveled from Holmesburg and Frankford to get fresh produce.
At the end of each workday, the vendors would migrate to the company gates at Disston Saw, Dodge Steel and the Eben-Harding Textile Mill to sell their items.
Workmen were often asked by their wives to shop for New Jersey produce or for candy and toys for the children.
From 1922 to ’28, the ferry promoted these new shopping and social patterns for the community. The ferry also established the future site of the bridge for Northeast Philadelphia.
Heavy traffic on the ferries, and an increased opportunity for profit, prompted Charles A. Wright and Edward G. Borer to form the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge Co. in 1927. When the bridge was opened on Aug. 14, 1928, the ferry line closed for good.
The ferry employees were hired by the new bridge company, and the price of a trip to New Jersey was reduced to 35 cents.
The opening of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, along with the Frankford El and the Roosevelt Boulevard during the same period, was a major impetus for the development of Northeast Philadelphia. ••
To reach Harry C. Silcox, send e-mail to silcoxh@axs2000.net

History lessons of the Northeast
Editor’s note: On the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, the Times publishes a column by local historians Dr. Harry C. Silcox and Jack McCarthy, who examine the little-known historical facts, people and events that have shaped the history of Northeast Philadelphia. Dr. Silcox and Mr. McCarthy are preparing these articles in conjunction with the Historical Society of Frankford’s Center for Northeast Philadelphia History.