History of New York City (1784–1854) as the financial and mercantile capital of the western hemisphere. The Great New York City Fire of 1845 destroyed 345 wooden buildings in the Financial District. The Hudson River Railroad (which grew into the New York Central) opened October 3, 1851; it extended the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, the first railroad built in the state, south to New York City. The city and its nearby suburbs grew rapidly for several reasons. The natural harbor at the base of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the New Jersey ports at Newark and Elizabeth provided almost unlimited capacity for trading ships and protection from storms.
New Jersey and New York Railroad New Jersey and New York Railroad The New Jersey and New York Railroad (NJ&NY) was a railroad company that operated north from Rutherford, New Jersey, to Haverstraw, New York beginning in the mid-to-late 19th century. The line was originally chartered as the Hackensack and New York Railroad (H&NY) in 1856. The H&NY would eventually run from Rutherford to Hackensack, New Jersey. In 1866 under the leadership of David P. Patterson the company was rechartered as the Hackensack and New York Extension Railroad and it extended its line north of Hackensack. It later reorganized as the New Jersey and New York