 Added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 9, 1982, the "Binghamton" was possibly the last surviving steam ferry built to serve New York Harbor, where commercial steam navigation and double-ended steam ferries got their start, and which was profoundly shaped by vessels of this kind.Until the Pennsylvania Railroad built Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan and tunneled under the Hudson River, all New York-bound rail lines from the west terminated at the New Jersey shoreline of New York Harbor.Accordingly, a number of independent and railroad-affiliated ferry companies provided passenger and light freight service across the harbor.