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For a river city like Marietta, getting over large bodies of water has always proven to be a bit of a challenge. For much of the history of Washington County, residents did not have the luxury of bridges to help them get from one town to the next. Small boats provided the first link between cities and villages, but to conduct real business, something a little more substantial was needed. Communities turned to ferries to fill the gaps between the riverbanks until large bridges could be constructed decades later.
As early as 1803 people were attempting to establish a ferry between Ohio and the Virginia community across the river that we now call Williamstown. But it seems that took a long time to establish.
The first ferry connected Marietta and Harmar. In the early 1800s a simple ferry ran along a long rope that was connected to the two sides of the river, hooked to it was a ferry that used the current to move back and forth across the river. The "Marietta Friend" newspaper reported the drowning of a young woman on the ferry after "incapacity and mismanagement of the ferryman," filled the craft with water.
A later ferry was operated for a while by a man named William Gurley, who ran the boat "Two Sisters" across the river. The city leased the ferry to the operator. An article published in the Marietta Gazette in 1841 indicated the ferry operated from sunrise until 9 p.m. with the cost ranging from $2 a person per year, $6 per year for those crossing by carriage. The ferry operated below the dam, so it likely was about where the train bridge is today. The cost in 1834 had been $1.50 to cross. The first bridge across the Muskingum River at Marietta was a covered bridge that sat on the bridge piers used today by the Historical Harmar Village Bridge.
The "Twin Sisters" boat appears to have been moved to the Ohio River in 1858 when service was first established. The "Twin Sisters" would be replaced by a secession of other boats until the Williamstown Bridge construction was completed in 1903. A photo on page two today shows passengers exiting a ferry on the Williamstown side of the river.
Further up the Muskingum ferries operated in Lowell and another one operated between Beverly and Waterford. The Beverly ferry crossing location became the spot for the first bridge across the Muskingum there. The location is easy to find today, it is still named Ferry Street. P.O. Dodge was granted a license to operate a ferry in Beverly in 1862 at the same time that Hervey Devol was granted a license to operate one in Lowell.
All the Muskingum ferries were eventually replaced by bridges. Some temporary ferries, including one between Marietta and Harmar were reestablished in 1913 after all the bridges on the Muskingum were destroyed by a giant flood.
Blennerhassett Island State Park uses a ferry to move work equipment to and from the island in the middle of the Ohio River. The horses and wagons used for rides on the island are taken there via the ferry that docks near Civitan Park in Belpre and pulls into the island on the West Virginia side a short distance up from the end of the island. Passengers are taken on a more leisurely route aboard the Island Belle directly from Point Park in Parkersburg.
Today a few ferries still operate in the area, filling a niche where bridges don't make economic sense. Upriver in Sistersville, the Sistersville Ferry still links the town with the small community of Fly on the Ohio side. It is believed to be one of five ferries still operating on the Ohio River. There has been a ferry in that location since 1817. The current one recently returned to service.
Art Smith is online manager of The Marietta Times.