Last Potomac ferry shuttered by lawsuit

A historic ferry that was the last of what once had been scores of ferries carrying passengers and vehicles over the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia is shutting down.

White’s Ferry announced Monday that it is ceasing operations, effective immediately, following a Virginia circuit court ruling that the ferry could not legally dock on the Virginia side of the Potomac River.

White’s Ferry, which traveled between White’s Ferry Road in Montgomery County and a road of the same name in Loudoun County, Virginia, was the last ferry to carry passengers over the Potomac.

Litigation over whether the boat could dock at a Loudoun County parcel of land referred to as “Rockland” had been ongoing since 2009.

White’s Ferry had established a licensing agreement with the previous owners of the land in 1952, but violated its terms in 2004 when it demolished and then replaced a wall on the Rockland property without the owners’ consent, leading the plaintiffs to terminate the agreement. 

In November, Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge Steven E. Sincavage ruled that the ferry had been trespassing on the plaintiffs’ land, referred to as Rockland, since that termination in 2004.

Sincavage granted an injunction prohibiting White’s Ferry from using or occupying the plaintiffs’ property, stating in his decision that the ferry’s continued use of the land even after the owners terminated their licensing agreement indicated that an injunction was necessary to stop the ferry from trespassing.

Though the injunction has not yet been signed, White’s Ferry opted to close on Monday, after having been closed due to flooding in the Potomac on Christmas Eve. 

“We could only open for maybe a week before the injunction gets signed, and then we’d have to close permanently, anyway,” said Herb Brown, a representative of the trust that owns the ferry.

The court also ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor on counts of damage to property and breach of contract, awarding the plaintiffs $102,175 in damages, but ruled in the defense’s favor on a count of unjust enrichment. While the court agreed that the defense benefited from trespassing on the plaintiffs’ property, it did not agree with the methodology the plaintiffs used to calculate how much the defense owed.

Brown, whose father and two associates from Virginia purchased the ferry’s landing in the 1940s, said that they are considering appealing the judge’s decision. After the injunction has been signed, they will have 30 days to do so.

“It certainly is an option,” Brown said.

Loudoun County released a statement clarifying that the county had not been party to the lawsuit, despite some reports implying that the ferry’s closure was due to a lack of a public landing on the Virginia side of the river.

“While Loudoun County is not party to the legal dispute, the county remains concerned about the outcome from a regional transportation perspective,” the statement continued. “We recognize that any impact to ferry service may impact our residents and people who work in Loudoun County.”

A statement released by the government of Poolesville, the Montgomery County town on the Maryland side of the river, referred to the ferry as “a vastly important piece of transportation infrastructure” and stated that the town was in talks with the county and state about how to keep the ferry operational.

“The closing of this important transportation link will have a massive impact upon countless commuters, surrounding communities, and alternate routes of travel,” said Kerri Cook, president of Poolesville’s Town Commission.

Originally called Conrad’s Ferry, White’s Ferry had been owned by the same family since R. Edwin Brown purchased the landing in the 1940s, according to a Loudoun Now article published earlier this year. At the time, Herb Brown said, the ferry service had been closed for several years after the vessel was destroyed in a hurricane. His father reopened the operation and continued to run it for over seven decades until his death this past January.

Six staffers work on the ferry, which operates from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., 365 days per year except in the case of inclement weather. It has been estimated that the boat transports 600 cars over the Potomac each day.

“Historically, it’s been there since the late 1700s,” Herb Brown said. “It is part of Montgomery County history.”