Railroads connecting New York City and Chicago of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, owned by the New York Central Railroad. In 1857, the Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge was completed across the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and trains began to run from Philadelphia to Chicago along the Pennsylvania Railroad and Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Rail Road (later part of the PRR). The Connecting Railway in Philadelphia opened for revenue service on June 3, 1867, with direct service between Philadelphia and Jersey City, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York. Through freight between Jersey City and Pittsburgh began the next month, and soon
Toms River, New Jersey candidates with 1.0% (283 votes), among the 29,782 ballots cast by the township's 61,578 registered voters, yielding a 48.4% turnout. Students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade attend the Toms River Regional Schools, a regional public school system (centered primarily in Toms River Township) that is the largest suburban school district in New Jersey. In addition to students from Toms River, the district also serves the adjoining boroughs of Beachwood, Pine Beach and South Toms River. It is the largest suburban school district in the state, and the fourth largest school district in New Jersey (after Newark, Jersey City and Paterson).