White's Ferry — The last working ferry on the Potomac
Ferry Closes
On Nov. 23, 2020, Circuit Court Judge Stephen E. Sincavage found that there was no record documenting the creation of a public landing on the Virginia shore and awarded the owners of the Rockland Farm property, where the ferry lands in Loudoun, $102,175 in damages for trespassing, property damage and breach of contract.
The closure comes more than 11 years after the Rockland Farm owners filed a lawsuit alleging the operators of the ferry trespassed, damaged Rockland property and breached a pre-existing agreement when they constructed a concrete retaining wall in spring 2004. Since then, prolonged negotiations and attempts at mediation have not been productive.
In operation since 1786, White's Ferry is the last working ferry of 100 ferries that used to operate on the Potomac River. Early settlers recognized that the relatively still waters of the Potomac River at the location would provide an ideal location for a ferry. The first known ferry operation at the location was Conrad's Ferry, pronounced contemporaneously by the locals as "Coonrod's Ferry" in 1817. After the Civil War, former Confederate officer Elijah V. White purchased it and made many improvements to the service. He named his ferry boat in honor of his former commander, General Jubal Anderson Early.
More than a convenient river crossing, the ferry provided a place of commerce between the canal and surrounding community. Farmers from Virginia used the ferry to get their crops to market in Washington, D.C., and Maryland via the C&O Canal. In the days before modern refrigeration, a farmer's access to reliable transportation meant the difference between prosperity and watching a year's worth of work rot in storage. Together the canal and the ferry shortened the time it took farmers to get goods to market. Today White’s Ferry continues to serve the needs of its community by providing a safe river crossing and a living link to the past.
To assist farmers in getting their crops to market, White built a granary along the canal to store grains until they could be loaded and shipped via the canal.
The ferry was owned by Malcolm Brown, whose father purchased the location in 1946 with other business partners. He eventually bought out his partners and shipped new ferries from Baltimore in 1953 and from Norfolk in 1988; both of which were named after Confederate General Jubal A. Early because of his, "rebellious, no surrender attitude".
The ferry in the 1940s. (photo by Marion Wolcott)
Historical Road Marker
Ferryman Charles Ashby Williams checks the engine in this early 1900s photo
To assist farmers in getting their crops to market, a granary was built along the C&O canal.