The Cut

The Brown’s Point waterfront area marked the end of the Old Post Road on the west side of the Susquehanna River. By the early 1830s, it had become a busy rail and ferry terminal, where goods and railcars were transferred onto steam- powered ferries bound for Perryville and points further north.

 

In 1836, a railroad spur known as The Cut was carved through the city along St. Clair Street, running beneath wooden bridges at Stokes Street and Union Avenue. It enabled railcars—initially pulled by horses—to reach the water’s edge. The Havre de Grace/Perryville Rail Ferry, operating from 1837 to 1866, was the first functional railroad ferry service in the United States. The service was powered by steam ferries like the Susquehanna and later the steel ferry Maryland, which could carry entire trains and passengers.

 

After the first bridge across the Susquehanna was completed in 1866, the ferry service became obsolete. Though rail traffic continued for a time, the line eventually fell into disuse, leaving The Cut an open and increasingly hazardous trench through the city. City leaders repeatedly petitioned the railroad to fill it in, warning of its danger. The breaking point came when an out-of-town family—unfamiliar with the area—crossed the Union Avenue bridge, turned right in front of the Number 2 firehouse, and drove straight into the ditch.

 

That incident finally forced the railroad’s hand. In the summer of 1958, The Cut was filled with 2,700 truckloads of dirt. A wide, new street was laid over it and named Pennington Avenue, honoring former Mayor George Pennington, who served from 1923 to 1939.