Looking to leverage the donation of White’s Ferry to Montgomery County, Poolesville leaders have written to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors for support in restoring the long-shuttered ferry service.
Ferry owners Chuck and Stacey Kuhn have offered to donate the ferry in hopes of circumventing the current stalemate between themselves and the owners of the land on the Virginia side of the Potomac. For hundreds of years that landing was undisputed until a lawsuit led to a Virginia judge ruling in favor of the Devlin family who owns the property.
That judgment spurred years of unresolved negotiations and the eventual closing of the ferry altogether in December of 2020. After they purchased the ferry in an attempt to save it, the Kuhns encountered many of the same roadblocks to reopening as the former owner.
But now with the donation offer, the chair of the Poolesville Town Commissioners, Jim Brown, and the head of the Fair Access Committee, Link Hoewing have approached Loudoun County with a letter stating several strong arguments for reinstating the historic ferry.
The possibility of a more robust shared economy between the two similar areas was presented. “A recent study of the C&O Canal, for example, shows that visits to it alone generated hundreds of millions of dollars a year in business and tax revenues, benefiting jurisdictions on both sides of the Potomac River.”
The letter also points out the impact of 10 million more traffic miles on the entire area as drivers travel up and back to the nearest bridge at Point of Rocks which also adds more congestion to Virginia’s Route 15.
The writers project hope for a “new chapter of cooperation and success between our two counties”.
In the words of Fair Access’s Hoewing, “The letter is upbeat…and stresses the opportunity the potential donation may offer.”
