Ferry Boats of Colonial America

Early Ferry

By Harry Schenawolf, author of the Shades of Liberty Series about African American soldiers in the American Revolution.  Rivers that were too wide to construct a bridge (or too expensive), yet needed to be crossed to populate the new world’s wilderness and countryside provided the earliest setters with commercial potential. As these rural and soon after, urban areas were developed, roads sprang up that were regularly traversed by travelers between cities and villages. They also became important routes for merchants and retailers exchanging and transporting goods. Sturdy ferries were needed all across the vast stretches of colonial America; those that could load and unload quickly while accommodating both foot, livestock, and wagon traffic. These pre-Revolutionary War ferries were of a generic vessel type based on a minimalist design. In almost all cases, they were not built by skilled laborers at a boatyard, but on site by the owner-operator.

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They all comprised elements in construction and necessity that required two basic functions; that it floated in the shallowest of waters and it was cheap to make. Therefore, these early ferries took the shape of a rectangular box, often quite elongated, with a flat bottom and flat, vertical sides. The bottom at both the bow and stern were sloped upward, which had the effect of reducing water resistance that allowed the slender vessel to glide across the water with minimal effort. These flat-bottomed boats could be as long as 60 feet and were often far narrower; from 8 to ten feet wide. Therefore, wagon teams were lined up single file with pedestrians gathered at either end.

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Note poling to propel the ferry across the river.

There were four basic methods of propelling a ferry across the river: poling, rowing, sail, and stretching a line between banks. The oldest and most dependable was poling. Poles were quite long, often over 18 feet in length. Once the ferry shoved off, workers would drive these long poles into the river bed at an angle toward the stern. They would push or pull back on the pole propelling the boat. The pole was quickly pulled up, slightly, angled, and the process repeated. Often on larger barges and flatboats, workers would drive the pole into the river bed near the bow and walk the length of the boat towards aft. How fast they walked would affect the boat’s speed. When the river became too deep, or a firm bottom was impossible to pole, oars were used. In some cases, for wider rivers or lakes, a small mast with single boom and foresail was employed (but only on wider boats to accommodate a center mast). Smaller rivers which were still too wide for a bridge and or having too swift a current for poling or rowing, utilized line and tackle. Lines drawn through tackle and pullies and the ferry were stretched between opposing shores. Men, horses, or oxen would haul on the line, dragging the ferry over the water to the opposite shore.

Early ferry 6
Note the use of tackle and lines to propel the ferry across the river. Also small residence and or comfort station on far shore.

There were no constructed landing docks. All loading and unloading of these early ferries occurred onto the riverbank. Often the shoreline was filled in with firmer soils or rocks and modified into a sloped embankment down to the river’s edge. A movable ramp that pivoted on hinges and controlled by a long pole was located at both ends of the ferry. This allowed passengers, livestock, and wagons to disembark in the same order they loaded. The ferry crossed the river directly without having to swing around to disembark. During crossing, both ramps were raised by locking the inboard ends of the poles under rope loops or metal brackets. Once the ferry touched the far riverbank and grounded to a stop, these poles were released and the ramp dropped down to meet the gravelly ramp. Theses timber ramps adjusted for differences in high and low water levels and riverbank conditions. Travelers easily unloaded allowing others to load facing the other shore.

Early ferry 11 from model boat yard
Ramp design for loading and unloading on river banks using poles and lines to lift and lower. From model boat yard.

The earliest ferries consisted of just the flatboat and a shed for storing equipment along with possible livery or barn to house any animals needed to propel the boat, as with lines. Some ferries were established on main roads that became quite busy as cities and towns developed. Many of these proprietors added to their ‘fleet’ of ferries to accommodate the heavy traffic, especially if the river were wide like the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York City. Some ferry owners established inns for travelers’ comforts serving food for those waiting passage and even overnight accommodations for those arriving too late to cross the river. The owner-operators eventually built residences for themselves and their workers. Other retailers took advantage of heavily trafficked ferries, cashing in on those forced to wait their turn to cross. Over time, these early ferries developed into small settlements and villages on both sides of the waterway.

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The illustration shown is of the Market Street Ferry crossing the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Camden. The two men in the bow row while one mans the helm.

Though ferries were private enterprises, tolls for the most part were not determined by the operator-owner, but usually set by regional assemblies such as a general court. Though the land on both banks of the waterway may or may not be owned by the ferryman, to remain in business, he had to guarantee a constant ferry service for a specific number of years – typically seven years at a time. Ferries were not public enterprises as all tolls were paid directly to the operator. Only the very first settlers in Virginia, until the 1660’s enjoyed free tolls provided from levied taxes on all residents. This proved to be a hardship on the poorer settlers who never used the ferries. After a few decades, free tolls were abandoned. Tolls were highest at the wider rivers and a surcharge was allowed during winter crossings. Toll fees varied from reasonable to ‘highway robbery’, depending on the local legislators A diarist wrote in 1755 that he paid 40 shillings for a number of trips to transport his herd of cattle across a New England river.

Popular ferries that traversed the Hudson River in New York: Paulus Hook Ferry crossed the Hudson River between New Jersey (present day Jersey City) and New York City (at then Courtland Street in lower Manhattan). It sat on the main road between Philadelphia and Trenton and New York City. Another ferry from New Jersey to Manhattan was first ran by Samuel Bayard in 1700 and stretched from Weehawken, NJ. Remaining on the Hudson and further north, was the very popular ferry service used repeatedly by the Continental Army throughout the war – The Kings Ferry, just north of the Bay of Haverstraw. It ran between Verplanck and just north of Stony Point where the Americans and British contested over a fort built on the point.

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Connecticut had a vast array of ferries. Two of the earliest, both beginning operation in the 1640’s, crossed the Connecticut River at Windsor and the other at East (Quinnipiac) river in New Haven. By 1700 there were eleven well-used ferry crossings throughout the province found: Connecticut River at Windsor, Harford, Wethersfield, Haddam, and Old Saybrook. On the Saugatuck in Fairfield, the Housatonic in Stratford, the Quinnipiac in New Haven, the Niantic in East Lyme, and on the Thames at Norwich and New London. By 1750 the number of ferries increased to twenty-six and thirty by the end of the century.

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Ferry over the Delaware River at Bushkill, Pennsylvania.

Further south, the first colony established by Swedish settlers operated the region’s first ferries in the 1660’s along the Christina River in the area that became Delaware. Philadelphia had multiple ferries, particularly those to converse both the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. Ferry service between Philadelphia and west New Jersey began in 1688, just six years after William Penn’s arrival in Pennsylvania. The colonial assembly addressed ferry service shortly after Philadelphia’s founding. Philip England began operating the first ferry on the Schuylkill River in 1685 between High Street and the roads to Darby and Merion. A later ferry called the upper ferry at Spring Garden St., was operated by William Powel, starting in 1692. In 1730, a third, or middle ferry connected the Lancaster Pike to the city. All three ferries stimulated travel-related enterprises such as inns, taverns, hotels, warehouses, etc. They also utilized pulled rope or lines, making the passage rather slow for the increased traffic. By 1774 these delays prompted the colonial assembly to vote on constructing a bridge over the Schuylkill River, however it wasn’t until 1776, due to military demand, that a floating bridge was erected.

In the Lower Counties (later the state of Delaware), Governor Francis Lovelace chartered the first ferry service on the Christina north of present-day Newport in 1669 with an additional crossing established over Brandywine Creek in 1689; the peninsular land mass between these two ferries eventually became central Wilmington, Delaware (est.1731). Virginia had over a hundred ferries by the end of the 18th century. At just one stretch of the James river and the nearby Rivanna River, there were eighteen ferries, the earliest dating back to 1729.

Early ferry 2Nature endowed the colony of North Carolina with more miles of inland waterways than any other in British North America, encompassing as it did the two large sounds of Albemarle and Pamlico, several smaller sounds, and innumerable rivers and creeks which had to be traversed. A scattered population and restricted mobility resulting from poor roads caused the Carolinas to move slowly in providing adequate ferry services. By 1700, only one ferry existed in the Albemarle area, the first settled region. This first ferry was run by Quakers only for members of their religious sect. It wasn’t until 1720 that three ferries were in operation. It wasn’t until ferries were placed over Core Creek at Bath in 1725 and over the Lower Cape Fear River at the Haulover in 1727, was the King’s Highway from Virginia to South Carolina completed.

Ferries between Pennsylvania and New Jersey played key roles in the American Revolution, most famously when General George Washington and his army on December 25, 1776, at McConkey’s Ferry. Earlier that year, tavernkeeper and ferry operator John Coryell denied British soldiers passage on his ferry between Lambertville, New Jersey, and New Hope, Pennsylvania, as General Charles Cornwallis pursued the Continental Army into Pennsylvania. During the conflict, Trenton’s Lower Ferry earned the nickname “Continental Ferry” as proprietor Elijah Bond offered active American soldiers reduced rates. While the British occupied Philadelphia (September 1777–June 1778), American spies disguised as farmers used ferries at the Schuylkill River (including Gray’s Ferry) to slip in and out of the city.[1]

Fulton's first commercial steamboat - 1807
Fulton’s first commercial steamboat – 1807

Toward the end of 1700’s, steam began to make its appearance. John Fitch of Philadelphia, based on Englishman Thomas Newcomen’s steam engine and Frenchman Claude de Jouffroy’s steamboat design, successfully trialed his boat in 1787. In 1788 he began to operate a regular commercial service on the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Burlington, New Jersey, carrying as many as 30 passengers. The boat could typically make 7 to 8 miles per hour (11 to 13 km/h). It ultimately traveled over 2,000 miles during its brief length of service. Finch’s boat ultimately proved too expensive and was replaced with the first practical and commercial sound steamboat: the Clermont, which was built by American inventor Robert Fulton in 1807. By the 1800’s, major ferry routes saw a greater use of steam propulsion over man and animal power. With the improvement of bridge construction technology and diesel and gas-powered engines, most of the nation’s ferry service dried up. However, many of the early ferry designs and manual propulsion survived right up till the 20th century in smaller, ‘backwoods’ communities.

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Many ferries in what was considered back country continued the same technology and structure right up to the mid 20th century.

The tiny Hatton Ferry, which carries passengers across the James River near Scottsville in Albemarle County, Virginia, is the last remaining poled ferry in the U.S. Able to carry 12 people and two cars, it has a flat bottom with a deck just a few inches above the waterline. An overhead wire that strands the 700 yards across the river from bank to bank guides a cable attached to one end of the craft, which helps control the boat while relying on the natural current of the river to convey it across. Once near the landing, the operator rolls up the cable on the stern and uses his pole to ease the ferry into its slip.[2]

Early ferry 11 Hatton Ferry, Virginia
Hatton Ferry, Virginia. Last ferry in America to use poling and early technologies.

For Further Reading, check out these books on Amazon:

Click Here for Ledyard and Gales Ferry 

Ferry Book 1

Click Here for Tavern at the Ferry

Tavern at the Ferry

Click Here for America As Seen by its First Explorers

Early Colonial America First Explorers

Click Here for Steamboats

Steamboats

RESOURCES

Web Sites

Living in the Past

Philadelphia Encyclopedia Archives

Motor Boat Yard – Ferry

Virginia Living

Articles

Watson, Alan D. “The Ferry in Colonial North Carolina: A Vital Link in Transportation”. The North Carolina Historical Review. Vol. 51, No. 3 (July, 1974), pp. 247-260.

Texts

Cudahy, Brian J. Over and Back. The History of Ferry Boats in New York Harbor. 1990: Fordham University Press, New York, NY.

Donovan, Mary Sudman. George Washington at Headquarters, Dobbs Ferry: July 4 to August 19, 1781. 2009: iUniverse.com.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Web site: https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/ferries/#18054

[2] Web site: http://www.virginialiving.com/culture/there-and-back-again/