On October 27, 1904, New York City opened its first underground subway line. The four-track Interborough Rapid Transit, or IRT, connected City Hall Station in Lower Manhattan to 145th Street and Broadway in Harlem.
The line was 9.1 miles long, or about 14.6 kilometers, and had 28 stations. The route passes under Park Avenue, reaches Grand Central, continues along 42nd Street to Times Square, and then heads north along Broadway towards Harlem.
The first trip lasts 26 minutes
After a ceremony at City Hall, the first train departs shortly after 2:30 p.m. It is operated by Mayor George B. McClellan, who initially only has to symbolically start the journey. The train reaches 145th Street 26 minutes later.
“I now, as mayor, on behalf of the people, declare the subway open!“, McClellan declares during the celebration. In the evening, at 7:00 p.m., the subway is open to all residents of the city. By the end of the first day, over 110,000 people had traveled on it.
The beginning of a great transportation network
The opening came after years of discussions and construction. The contract for the construction of the rapid underground transport was signed four years and seven months before the ceremony. The first route was part of a larger plan to connect the business center of Manhattan with the rapidly growing northern neighborhoods.
The subway began as a privately operated IRT system. In the following years, the network expanded to the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. Later, the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit and the municipal Independent Subway lines joined it. The three systems were merged in 1940, laying the foundation for today's New York City subway.
The first route no longer exists in its full form, but parts of it remain the basis of the operating network. On October 27, 1904, the subway stopped being a project and became an everyday part of New York City life.
Sources: history.com, thenation.com