Liberty State Park

Liberty State Park is a 1,212-acre (490 ha) state park situated on the western shore of Upper New York Bay in Jersey City, New Jersey, directly opposite Liberty Island and Ellis Island. The park opened in 1976 to coincide with bicentennial celebrations and is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry. Standing at the intersection of centuries of American history — from Indigenous settlement and immigrant arrival to wartime sabotage and the tragedy of September 11 — Liberty State Park is one of the most historically layered public spaces in the United States. It is the largest park in Jersey City, the largest urban park in the state, the most visited New Jersey state park, and one of the most visited state parks in the United States, with approximately 4.5 million visitors each year as of 2025.

History and Background

The land now occupied by Liberty State Park carries a deep and varied history that predates the nation itself. The western edge of Liberty State Park was once the waterfront home of the Lenape, New Jersey's Native Americans. During the Colonial Era, in 1661, Dutch settlers of New Netherland ran a ferry service on the waterfront to Manhattan. The northern edge follows the path of the nineteenth-century Morris Canal, whose barges transported coal from Pennsylvania eastward to the industrial and urban markets on New York Bay.

By the mid-19th century, railroad companies had filled in the park's eastern ledge, and the waterfront's tidal flats were soon transformed into expanses of railroad yards and passenger and cargo transportation facilities. This industrial transformation set the stage for the land's most consequential chapter: its role as a critical gateway for millions of immigrants entering the United States through nearby Ellis Island.

The present terminal, completed in 1889, received the stream of immigrants entering America from Ellis Island off Jersey City's coast. The new arrivals, once examined and proven entitled to land — more than 50 percent — boarded barges for the mainland at the CRRNJ Terminal. Thousands of workers and travelers boarded ferries or trains daily at the terminal for their destinations. It was from this ferry and train station that an estimated 10.5 million immigrants — roughly two-thirds of those processed at Ellis Island — entered Jersey City to spread out across the United States.

By 1967, the railways' decline nationally contributed to the bankruptcy of the Central Railroad and the closing of the terminal. It gradually fell into disrepair with an uncertain future.

Creation of the Park

Some residents, believing the site had potential as a public natural resource, sought support from the state and federal governments to transform it into a waterfront park. On June 13, 1958, community activist and former City Councilman Morris Pesin introduced a public awareness movement about the site's proximity to Liberty Island. With a reporter from the Jersey Journal, Tom Durkin, Pesin canoed between the two locations, a 2,000-foot journey of only eight minutes. Other early advocates for a park were Audrey Zapp and Ted Conrad.

The park was conceived in the 1960s, with the land transferred from the city to the state in 1965. Jersey City residents Audrey Zapp, Theodore Conrad, Morris Pesin, and J. Owen Grundy were influential environmentalists and historians who spearheaded the movement that led to the creation of Liberty State Park. Opened on Flag Day, June 14, 1976, Liberty State Park is the largest urban park in New Jersey. The park's main address is located at 1 Audrey Zapp Drive, named in honor of one of its earliest champions.

The Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal

On the northernmost shore of the park stands the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CRRNJ) Terminal. The terminal operated from 1889 to 1964 and also served the Central Railroad of New Jersey-operated Reading Railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and the Lehigh Valley Railroad. At the height of its operations, the terminal was the busiest rail and ferry hub in the New York Harbor area. At its peak, the terminal served 30,000 to 50,000 commuters every day.

The structure is no longer in active use, but it has been added to the State and National Register of Historic Places. The building's exterior is the work of Boston-based architectural firm Peabody and Stearns.

Today, it serves as a museum and ticket office for ferry service to Ellis Island and Liberty Island, which operates from the Hudson River side of the terminal. The terminal building stands as a tangible reminder of the extraordinary human traffic that passed through this corner of New Jersey — immigrants from dozens of nations who stepped off ferries from Ellis Island and onto trains that would carry them to every part of the country.

The Black Tom Explosion of 1916

One of the most dramatic and historically significant events connected to the land of Liberty State Park took place decades before the park itself existed. The Black Tom explosion was an act of arson by field agents of the Office of Naval Intelligence of the German Empire, carried out to destroy U.S.-made munitions awaiting shipment to the Allies during World War I. The explosions occurred on July 30, 1916, in New York Harbor, killing at least seven people and wounding hundreds more.

Black Tom, a small island located just off the coast of New Jersey, consisted of a complex of warehouses, barges, and railroads filled with a few million tons of war materials set for transport to Great Britain and France. The force of the explosion was so strong that it blew out windows in Times Square and shook the Brooklyn Bridge, and pieces of shrapnel from the blasts caused damage to the Statue of Liberty. Visitors were never again allowed to access the statue's torch, and immigrants at nearby Ellis Island had to be evacuated.

Vibrations from the explosion traveled all the way to Philadelphia, and the sound could even be heard in Maryland. Estimates place the explosion at the equivalent of an earthquake between a 5.0 and a 5.5 on the Richter scale. The act of sabotage was the largest enemy attack on continental American soil prior to 9/11.

Landfill projects later made Black Tom Island part of the mainland, and it was incorporated into Liberty State Park. The former Black Tom Island is at the end of Morris Pesin Drive in the southeastern corner of the park, where a plaque marks the spot of the explosion.

Landmarks and Attractions

Empty Sky — New Jersey's September 11 Memorial

Empty Sky is the official New Jersey September 11 memorial to the state's victims of the September 11 attacks on the United States. It is located in Liberty State Park in Jersey City at the mouth of the Hudson River, across from the World Trade Center site.

Designed by Jessica Jamroz and Frederic Schwartz, it was dedicated on Saturday, September 10, 2011, a day before the tenth anniversary of the attacks. The design was chosen by unanimous vote of the Families and Survivors Memorial Committee, out of 320 qualified entries in the international design competition.

Facing the twin towers site across the Hudson River, the memorial consists of two parallel stainless steel walls, each 210 feet long by 30 feet high. Names are placed randomly on twin brushed stainless steel walls that point toward Ground Zero. Individuals' names, four inches tall, are within reach and engraved deep enough for hand rubbing. The walls are 210 feet long — the width of each side of the World Trade Center Towers — and rise 30 feet, standing parallel to each other with a 12-foot wide paved path of bluestone between them. During the attacks, dozens of private, commercial, and Coast Guard boats shuttled evacuees from lower Manhattan to the docks at the park in the largest boatlift ever undertaken. In the following days and weeks, volunteers manned a family assistance center in the former railroad terminal on the grounds.

Liberty Science Center

Liberty Science Center, which lies in the western portion of the park, is an interactive science museum and learning center. The center opened in 1993 as New Jersey's first major state science museum. It features science exhibits, the world's 5th largest IMAX Dome theater, the largest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, numerous educational resources, and the original Hoberman sphere, a silver, computer-driven engineering artwork designed by Chuck Hoberman.

Monuments and Public Art

The park is home to several notable works of public art and memorial sculpture. Liberation is a 1985 bronze sculpture designed by Nathan Rapoport as a memorial to the Holocaust, showing a U.S. soldier carrying out a survivor from a Nazi death camp. La Vela di Colombo is a two-story sail-shaped bronze monument designed by Gino Gianetti that commemorates the 500th anniversary of the westward journey of Christopher Columbus to America in 1492.

Liberty Walkway and the Waterfront

Liberty Walkway, a crescent-shaped promenade, stretches from the CRRNJ Terminal along the waterfront south to the Statue of Liberty overlook, bridging two coves along the way. It is part of the longer Hudson River Waterfront Walkway. A two-mile promenade, Liberty Walk, links the picnic area, interpretive center, and terminal while presenting visitors with sweeping views of the Hudson River and Manhattan.

Recreation, Access, and Ecology

Visitors to Liberty State Park enjoy its free open space, cultural events, and outdoor recreation with picnic areas, playgrounds, boat launches, a 100-acre Green Park, and Liberty Landing Marina, which opened in 1998. There is boating and canoeing on the Hudson River and New York Bay, plus picnic areas, a playground, food concessions, areas for fishing and crabbing, and a marina. The park also features trails for hiking, biking, nature walks, and fitness, and it is the site of spectacular Fourth of July fireworks.

Its undeveloped acres have been reclaimed for freshwater wetlands at Freedom Way and a wildlife refuge supervised by the Division of Parks and Forestry. In 1983, New Jersey's Registry of Natural Areas designated Caven Point Cove for wildlife preservation. Caven Point is a 22-acre man-made piece of land that sits adjacent to the Liberty National Golf Course. It is the only sandy beach along the shoreline and home to various migratory birds.

The park is accessible by public transportation. Visitors can take the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail to the Liberty State Park station. Statue Cruises provides ferry service from the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal to Liberty Island and Ellis Island.

See Also

• Jersey City, New Jersey
• Ellis Island
• Liberty Island
• Statue of Liberty
• Liberty Science Center
• Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal
• New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry