A file photo of ferry operations at White's Ferry crossing the Potomac River. The service shut down in 2020 and efforts to reopen it have been unsuccessful. (Photo courtesy Pete Piringer/WTOP)
By Tadiwos Abedje and Neal Augenstein
Montgomery County has acquired White’s Ferry and its operations on the Maryland side of the Potomac River — and officials are encouraging their Virginia counterparts to help restart the service that once carried hundreds of vehicles daily across the river.
In a news conference Friday, ferry owner Chuck Kuhn said he would donate the historic vessel and its operations to Montgomery County. At the same time, the county will purchase the land where the ferry docks on the Maryland side of the Potomac.
The county will pay $1.5 million for the approximately 2.5 acres of riverfront land, a store, a ferry ramp, a boat launch and storage buildings. Once the sale is finalized and the county assumes possession of the property, the vessel will be pulled out of the river and examined for any needed repairs, officials said. The county hopes it can finalize the transition in the next two months.
Kuhn, who purchased White’s Ferry with his wife, Stacy, six years ago, said the goal was to get the ferry open.
“We never were worried about who owned it. We just wanted to make sure the ferry got back open for the community. It was an amazing journey and today is a great step,” Kuhn said.
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In December 2020, the ferry shut down after a Loudoun County judge ruled White’s Ferry had been trespassing since the end of a licensing agreement that allowed the ferry to dock at Rockland Farm on the Virginia side of the Potomac.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said the ferry’s shutdown has heavily impacted the nearby city of Poolesville. He called the deal a “major milestone, a significant step” toward reopening the ferry. After years of assisting with negotiations with both landowners, he said owning the property itself was the most “logical and simple thing” to resume 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, and we stand ready to work with them to achieve that goal,” Elrich said.
“I’m optimistic that the climate on the other side of the river has improved,” he said.
Over the years, Kuhn has been unable to reach a deal with Rockland Farm owners Libby Devlin and her brother Peter Brown to allow the ferry to resume service. This includes the Montgomery County Council putting together a $3 million offer to resolve issues.
In 2021, Loudoun County’s Board of Supervisors urged Kuhn and Devlin to negotiate a deal on their own. “Work it out,” Chair Phyllis Randall encouraged the private owners at the time.
Montgomery County officials said they last spoke to the Rockland Farm owners around February, with Elrich adding that he would like to negotiate a deal to resume service. Devlin told WTOP Thursday she was unaware of the deal between Kuhn and Montgomery County and hadn’t been invited to participate in Friday’s news conference.
When asked if this deal might pave the way for Loudoun County to exert eminent domain over the land in Virginia where the ferry docks, Elrich said it’s possible, but it should be the final step, as it could be delayed through a lengthy court battle. However, he said it has been a struggle to work with the Rockland Farm owners.
“But if it came down to eminent domain, I’d hope the state would consider doing it,” Elrich said. “They recognize the economic value and the purpose. This is something they should be willing to do. They certainly have the power to do it.”
In a statement to WTOP, a spokesperson for the Office of the County Administrator in Loudoun County said that Montgomery County informed them of the White’s Ferry acquisition Thursday, adding that the jurisdiction sees the deal as a positive development.
“This is an important milestone toward improving regional connectivity,” Loudoun Economic Development Executive Director Buddy Rizer said in a statement. “Working together on projects like this creates stronger local economies and better opportunities on both sides of the river.”
Established in 1786, White’s Ferry carried between 600 and 800 vehicles daily across the Potomac River and more on weekends. Once it is open and running, Montgomery County will hire people to operate the ferry.
“The ferry is a vital service that we want to have restored,” Montgomery County Department of Transportation Director Chris Conklin told WTOP. “With this arrangement, we have the Maryland landing and ferry operations in control and continue to seek solutions by finding answers to where the boat can land in Virginia.”
– As part of Maryland Matters’ content sharing agreement with WTOP, we feature this article from Tadiwos Abedje and Neal Augenstein. WTOP’s José Umaña also contributed to this report. Click here for the WTOP News website.
Originally published at Marylandmatters.Org