April 29, 2024

By James Brown & Steven Findlay

After more than three years, a possible deal is in the works to reopen White’s Ferry. This is an unexpected and very promising development.

Before it stopped operating in December 2020, the ferry served as a vital and historic link between Virginia and northern Montgomery County for over 200 years. It was one of the oldest such car ferries in the country, the only remaining ferry running on the Potomac (of more than 100 that once operated), and the only river crossing in a 35-mile stretch between the American Legion Bridge and a bridge near Point of Rocks.

As such, White’s Ferry was an historic treasure as well as a functional service. Routine commuter and commercial traffic—between 600 and 800 cars a day—yielded benefits to both Virginia and Maryland communities.

The history of the legal stalemate and stand-off that evolved after the ferry stopped operating is best obtained online and via the Monocacy Monocle, which closely covered the ordeal. What has transpired in recent months, as relayed in The Washington Post on April 18 is the following:

(1) Chuck and Stacy Kuhn, who bought the ferry in 2021, have offered to donate the land and business to Montgomery County—“contingent on Montgomery and Loudoun Counties working together to find a solution…to reopen the ferry in a timely manner.”

(2) Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich has accepted the offer, and the challenge of negotiating with Loudoun County officials and the owners of the ferry’s landing site in Virginia.

(3) Libby Devlin, co-owner of Rockland Farm in Loudoun County where the landing site is situated, said the donation was “great news” and that she looked forward to working with both counties to resolve the impasse and reopen the ferry as soon as possible.

(4) Loudoun County spokesperson Glen Barbour said the county “supports any solution that would result in the resumption of ferry service.”

(5) Elrich told the Post it would take up to a year to work everything out and get the ferry operational again. He later commented on a radio program that the donation allows the county to negotiate with Rockland’s owners concerning their demands for compensation for the use of the Virginia landing. If such negotiations failed, Elrich suggested he would urge Loudoun County officials to use “eminent domain” to declare the property a public transportation landing.

SCA applauds the Kuhn family for their generous offer and supports Montgomery County ownership of this important resource. Such ownership would help assure stability of the ferry service. It would also further reduce support for a new bridge between Loudoun County and northern Montgomery County. Some factions in Virginia’s state government (particularly in the Virginia Department of Transportation) have long pushed for such a bridge. Plans hatched years ago had the proposed bridge coming directly into Montgomery County’s Agricultural Reserve. SCA strongly opposed such plans then and we continue to do so. It would bring significant environmental and other harm to the Ag Reserve. Montgomery County officials oppose such a bridge as well.

James Brown is an SCA board member. Steven Findlay is SCA’s President