Train Line to Walkers Path

Narrative on the Northern appearing on the informational panel on the Erie Path at the Sparkill/Piermont border:

THE NORTHERN RAILROAD OF NEW JERSEY 

This path is the former route of the Northern R.R. of NJ. Completed in 1859, the Northern connected Jersey City to Upper Piermont (today’s Sparkill), where it branched to join the NY & Erie line east to the Village of Piermont and, by 1860, west towards Suffern along what is now the J. B. Clarke Trail. On May 21, 1870, amid fireworks, booming cannon, pealing church bells, free-flowing wine and eloquence, the Northern line from Sparkill to Nyack officially opened, creating a 28- mile commute from Jersey City to Nyack. In 1883, a train station was built on this path one mile north in an elevated location then called Piermont-on-the Hill. Fully restored in 2017, it may be the only remaining wood- frame station of its kind and is now known as Piermont Station. In 1949, the Northern became part of the Erie R.R. system eventually becoming the Erie-Lackawanna line. It continued to carry passengers between Jersey City and Sparkill, ceasing operations in 1966. The railroad had a major economic impact on the area, servicing it for over a century. The last train on the extension from Sparkill to Nyack ran on December 14, 1965 after 95 years of operation. With the tracks removed, the former Sparkill to Nyack railroad route is now a much-prized recreational resource known as the Erie Path.