Historedia
Episode 1 of 1

First Commercial Steam Ferry Service

When
October 11, 1811
Where
Hoboken, New Jersey
Part of
John Stevens' Juliana begins the first steam ferry service

In October 1811, Stevens' steamboat Juliana began operating as a ferry between Manhattan and Hoboken, becoming the world's first commercial steam ferry.

The Juliana, built by John Stevens, started service in October 1811. It operated between Manhattan and Hoboken, New Jersey. This service is recognized as the first commercial steam ferry. Stevens' estate in Hoboken served as the operational base for this innovative transportation service.

Sources

  1. Hoboken, New Jersey Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-22
  2. John Stevens (inventor, born 1749) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-03

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.