Pier 63 was originally located near 23rd Street, adjacent to Chelsea Piers and Hudson River Park. The site was formerly the location of a Pavonia Ferry terminal that opened in 1869. The ferries traveled to Jersey City, located opposite Manhattan. By the beginning of the 20th century ferries were already aging and deteriorating under heavy use, and in 1942 the terminal itself was demolished. The pier then housed a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad transfer barge. In the late 1980s, boat enthusiast John Krevey converted an old railroad barge on the Hudson River to Pier 63. A restaurant was opened on the pier. The lightship "Frying Pan" and the fire vessel "John J. Harvey" were also originally moored to Pier 63, with both listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2007, the barge was moved to Pier 66 on 26th Street.