MoCo officials ‘optimistic’ White’s Ferry operations will resume after acquiring property

The county is in the process of purchasing the 2.5-acre Potomac River property for $1.5 million, officials say

July 24, 2026 7:52 p.m.

The Historic White's Ferry sits on the edge of the Potomac River shoreline in Poolesville. It has not floated to the other side since 2020. Photo credit: Elia Griffin

Standing on the Maryland side of the Potomac River on Friday morning where the historic White’s Ferry once traversed, Jim Brown, president of the Poolesville Town Commission, turned to face the Virginia side of the river and called out a plea six years in the making.

“You’ve got work to do too. Please work with our team. We’re willing and able to do it, and we can’t wait to get this boat across the river.”

No one, neither Virginia nor Loudoun County officials, nor Libby Devlin, the owner of Rockland Farm, the site of the ferry landing in Loudoun County, was on the other side of the river to hear Brown’s message.

Back on the Maryland side, Brown and a smattering of politicians gathered to tout the latest development in their efforts to get the ferry running again: plans to acquire the historic White’s Ferry and its property from its current owners. Officials say this next step is key to reopening the ferry operations.

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White’s Ferry, a historic Potomac River crossing that connected the county to Virginia’s Loudoun County, shut down in December 2020 following a land dispute between Herb Brown – the previous owner of the Maryland landing site and White’s Ferry Inc. – and Rockland Farm in Virginia, which owns the Virginia landing site.

On Thursday, after county officials announced their purchase of the White’s Ferry property, Devlin told WTOP that she wasn’t aware of the acquisition deal and had not been invited to the news conference on Friday. Devlin did not immediately respond Friday afternoon to Bethesda Today’s email request for comment.

Montgomery County’s announcement was well received by county residents who have advocated for years to bring ferry service back. One of those residents is Link Hoewing, who told Bethesda Today on Friday that the announcement reminds him of why he pushed to create the Fair Access Committee for the Western County.

The mission of the committee, which launched in 2018, is to ensure equity in how the county and state treat Montgomery County’s rural, western communities.

‘Optimistic’

Standing near the red and blue metal ferry topped with a white sign that reads “Historic White’s Ferry,” Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) said during the press conference that he was “optimistic that the climate on the other side of the river has improved” enough to bring the ferry back to service.

“I hope that our colleagues in Loudoun County and the Commonwealth of Virginia take note of this major shift and see their way to acquire the rights needed to restart the service,” Elrich said. “And we stand ready to work with them to achieve that goal.”

Among the officials present were State Del. Lily Qi (Dist. 15), County Council President Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6), Council Vice President Marilyn Balcombe (D-Dist. 2) — who represents the district where White’s Ferry is located — and Councilmembers Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) and Laurie-Anne Sayles (D-At-Large).

Chuck Kuhn, the owner of White’s Ferry, also attended the press conference and said it was an “exciting day” for him and his wife. He noted that when they purchased the property in January 2021, their intention was always to reopen the ferry.

“We never were worried about who owned it. We just wanted to make sure the ferry got back open to the community,” Kuhn said. “It was an amazing journey and today is a great step.”

In addition to selling the land, he and his wife would donate the White’s Ferry operation to the county, Kuhn said.

According to Elrich, the county plans to purchase the land for $1.5 million from the Kuhns. The acquisition includes 2.5 acres of riverfront land, the ferry ramp and boat launch, storage building, the White’s Ferry store and other structures on the land. Kuhn had previously offered to donate the ferry and its assets to the county; however, Elrich did not accept the offer. Instead, Elrich in April 2025 offered $3 million to the owners of the Maryland and Virginia landing sites to reach an agreement by July 1, 2026.

White’s Ferry history

Established in 1786, White’s Ferry once shuttled hundreds of riders each day across the river, linking the towns of Poolesville and Leesburg in Loudoun County, Virginia, and generating millions in economic impact for both jurisdictions annually.

According to a 2021 study on alternatives to White’s Ferry, the service operated from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, making between four and six one-way trips per hour. A one-way trip for an automobile cost $5, while a round-trip cost $8.

The dispute went up to the Loudoun County Circuit Court, which in November 2020 sided with Rockland Farm that the Virginia landing site was private property. The court further prohibited the ferry from landing there without the owner’s permission.

Unable to reach an agreement with Rockland Farm, which wanted to charge a toll for every car that drove on its land to use the ferry, White’s Ferry Inc. announced the closure of the ferry in December 2020. Two months later, Herb Brown sold the ferry and his land to Chuck and Stacy Kuhn, who hoped to re-establish the historic link between Poolesville and Leesburg.

At Friday’s press conference, Elrich lamented that getting to this next step in the White’s Ferry saga was “way harder than it should have been.”

“It’s not because we didn’t have partners who wanted to get this job done. We had a little obstacle on the other side of the river,” Elrich said, alluding to stalled negotiations with Rockland Farm.

Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) Director Chris Conklin said Friday that the county explored “10 to 15” different solutions to the ferry closure. None worked.

“This is the most likely path for success and we hope it happens,” Conklin said.

MCDOT said Friday in a press release that for now the county does not have authority to acquire those rights to the Virginia side of the ferry landing, but will “support officials in Loudoun County to achieve the goal of restarting ferry operations. Once the Virginia landing is available, Montgomery County intends to operate the ferry as a public service under public control.”

Looking ahead, the county hopes that when the ferry reopens, the land will be a more significant destination for county residents and visitors and a place that ties into the county’s agritourism sector.

“We intend to maintain the business operations that are occurring here. The county is not looking to change, except for anything we can do to make the businesses here more successful,” Conklin said.

Conklin added that the ferry reopening will help cut down the commutes of people who work on one side of the river and live on the other. According to Conklin, Poolesville is home to a National Institutes of Health research lab and before the ferry closure, had employees who lived in Leesburg.

“People found that commute to be unrealistic without the ferry,” Conklin said. “We’re hoping that that employment center can regain access to the talented workforce that lives in Loudoun County and find it easier to recruit the people they need to serve this community.”

Bethesda Today reporter Ceoli Jacoby contributed to this report.

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine