3
local lore
Hoboken’s lore is wild. We can claim to be: the home of baseball; the birthplace of Frank Sinatra; a stop on Chanel No. 5’s journey out of WWII-era Europe; and the site of a bar built on the Hudson River. This week, massive chunks of floating ice have covered the Hudson River between Hoboken and NYC, making it difficult for boats and ferries to travel to and fro. The iconic river rarely freezes completely, but in the 1800s and early 1900s, there were a number of instances when Hobokenites and New Yorkers could walk, skate, and even drive across a frozen Hudson. Some enterprising folks even set up a tavern in the middle of the river, providing refreshment for travelers halfway across the river. Read on to learn more about the time the Hudson River froze so solidly that mid-river taverns were set up between Hoboken and NYC.
^ frozen Hudson River in 2026 Photo Credit: @ivylipickles
Historical Freezes
Rarely do we see an entirely frozen Hudson River (and never in our lifetime), but there have been a few recorded instances throughout history of it happening, and travelers from both sides of the river responded with true ingenuity.
A bit north of Hoboken in the Catskills, the Hudson River was historically used as a throughway for fur traders, merchants, and other travelers going the north-south route to Manhattan. Even in the winter, residents used the frozen river’s surface to keep things moving. For example, the postmaster for the area in the 1830s would build seasonal lodgings for his men and the horses at the center of the river, creating a network of ‘relay shanties’. The postal service also used the river as its main route, eschewing the dirt and mud roadways that would surely be in terrible shape during the winter.
They had a track for horse racing on the ice, adding cars over time. There was even a taxi service to bring people from one bank to another. For a time, the ice near Newburgh, NY, was the home of speedskating. Ice boating, ice fishing, and sleigh-riding were popular seasonal pastimes.
Closer to home, near Hoboken and Manhattan, deep freezes happened but less frequently. There are reports of the Hudson freezing, closer to Manhattan, in 1813. One of our favorite stories, however, comes from January 1821, when the Hudson River froze so solidly that residents built a tavern on the ice. According to Gothamist, “The ice was for some time the only means of getting from New Jersey to this city. Some adventurous person built a temporary tavern on the ice on the North River, midway between New York and Hoboken, and dispensed eatables and drinkables to travelers between the two states.”
Over 200 years later, in January 2026, the recent Winter Storm Fern made its way across the United States, covering Hoboken in 9.5 inches of snow. Aside from school and business closures, Storm Ferm also resulted in an unusually icy Hudson River, with big Titanic-like ice blocks floating across the water. The conditions have yet to subside; today, January 27th, New York Waterway alerted residents that “We are experiencing delays on all routes due to heavy ice on the river.”
We love a good deep dive from time to time, and you can peruse our archives here.
Follow @thehobokengirl on Instagram + TikTok for the latest Hoboken and Jersey City updates, sign up for our weekly newsletter here that shares everything you missed each week, and check out our events calendar, which has over 100+ events weekly to peruse.
