Editing Newark Public Service Terminal

{{Short description|Former transit terminal in Newark, New Jersey}}
{{no footnotes|date=December 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Coord|40.737642|-74.169602|display=title}}
[[File:Electric railway journal (1916) (14756262944) (cropped).jpg|thumb|The facade of the newly opened Terminal in 1916]]
[[Image:Newark Public Service Terminal.jpg|thumb|A 1917 view of the ramp to the upper level of the terminal.]]
The '''Public Service Terminal''' was a three-level [[streetcar]] station in [[Newark, New Jersey]], owned and operated by the [[Public Service Corporation]], adjacent to the [[Hudson and Manhattan Railroad]]'s [[Park Place (H&M station)|Park Place]] station. It served as the terminus for [[List of Public Service Railway lines|streetcar lines]] from as far as [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]]. Public Service was both a transportation company and a utility, providing electric and gas service to much of northern New Jersey. The six office stories above the terminal served as company headquarters.

The terminal, opened on April 30, 1916 was located at the northeast corner of Park Place and Raymond Boulevard at [[Military Park (Newark)|Military Park]], a few blocks away from the busy downtown crossing at [[Four Corners (Newark)|Broad and Market Streets]].   It provided an off-street terminal for streetcars, and a central location for riders.  The street entrance was between the two track levels, and provided access to the office floors and to both terminals.  Most cars used the upper level, reached by a ramp from Mulberry Street on the east side.  Some used the lower level, reached on the west side from Washington Street by a two-block [[Cedar Street Subway]].  In 1916 the upper level saw 2,050 cars a day and the lower 550 cars, with more than 50,000 fares paid per day.  In 1935 the lower level was connected to the newly built [[Newark Light Rail|City Subway]], which ran under Raymond Boulevard adjacent to the terminal, to allow cars to continue to the subway terminal at [[Pennsylvania Station (Newark)|Penn Station]].  The eastbound connection passed under the City Subway to avoid a grade crossing.

Like most trolley companies, Public Service converted its routes to bus lines during the 1930s.  The last streetcar line using the terminal upper level was the #1-Newark line to [[Exchange Place Terminal]] in [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]], which ended on August 1, 1937. The last on the lower level was the #43-Jersey City line, running to Exchange Place Terminal by a different route, which ended on May 1, 1938.  The terminal continued in use for bus routes.  The lower level was used until May 1966, and the upper level until 1978.

[[File:PSE&G 2.JPG|thumb|80 Park Plaza]]
Public Service sold its transportation system to the [[New Jersey Transit]] in 1981, consisting of a large network of bus lines and one trolley line, the City Subway. The terminal building was demolished via implosion on June 14, 1981 and replaced with the [[Public Service Enterprise Group]] headquarters, 80 Park Plaza. The unused Cedar Street Subway from the portal to a wall east of Broad Street still exists. The City Subway tunnel has become part of the [[Broad Street (NJT station)|Broad Street]] branch of the [[Newark Light Rail]], emerging at Centre Street.

==See also==
* [[Newark and New York Branch]]

==References==
*Edward Hamm, Jr., The Public Service Trolley Lines in New Jersey, {{ISBN|0-933449-12-7}}
*John Harrington Riley, The Newark City Subway Lines, published by the author, 1987.
*New York Times, May 7, 1916, "How Newark's Great Civic Celebration Reveals Progressive Industrial Career".
*[http://nyjobsource.com/pseg.html Public Service Enterprise Group data sheet], accessed on August 22, 2008.

[[Category:New Jersey streetcar lines]]
[[Category:Skyscraper office buildings in Newark, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Transportation in Newark, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Transit hubs serving New Jersey]]
[[Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1916]]
[[Category:1916 establishments in New Jersey]]
[[Category:1938 disestablishments in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures demolished by controlled implosion]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1981]]
[[Category:Railway stations in the United States closed in 1938]]