Florida’s Forgotten Ferry Crossings
The Men, the Flat-Bottomed Boats, and the Tolls That Kept Pioneer Florida Moving
Every road in pioneer Florida eventually arrived at a river, and at the river, the road stopped.
Every road in pioneer Florida eventually arrived at a river. Bridges required materials, skilled labor and constant repair against seasonal floods, and on many pioneer roads they were scarce. Where a river was too deep or fast to ford, a ferry was often the practical answer: a flat-bottomed boat, a ferryman who lived near the bank, and a toll. No count of Florida’s ferries has been located, and most are forgotten today.
How a Ferry Worked
A pioneer ferry was typically a flat-bottomed, square-ended scow, wide enough for a loaded wagon and team and shallow enough to approach a bank closely. On wider or faster water a rope or cable strung between the banks could guide the boat. Florida examples appear in the State Archives photograph collection: Irvine’s Ferry, a cable ferry on the Suwannee River at Luraville, photographed about 1882, and a cable ferry at Rock Bluff Landing in Gilchrist County, photographed in 1954.
Who Granted the Right
In the territorial period the surviving records point to the Territorial Legislative Council, whose records include many ferry petitions. On February 15, 1834, the Council passed an act authorizing William Brinton Hooker to establish a ferry across the Suwannee River in Hamilton County. Catalog entries also list petitions for ferries on the Escambia, Apalachicola, Ochlockonee, Wakulla and Withlacoochee rivers, but they do not show how each was decided. By the mid-1840s local government appears. A Tampa local-history site reports that Hillsborough County commissioners granted Thomas Piper a four-year ferry privilege on May 23, 1846; that account is secondary and was not independently examined.
Documented Crossings
At White Springs, then called Jackson Springs, the Florida Park Service says a ferry was built near the spring, and that in 1836 Bryant Sheffield bought the ferry and the spring and built a hotel and spring house. Some other summaries give 1832; the conflict is unresolved. State historical markers record other crossings. The Kings Ferry marker says the hamlet of Mills Ferry grew where the British King’s Road crossed the St. Marys River, and the Cow Ford marker describes a narrow stretch of the St. Johns at Jacksonville used as a crossing; neither marker, as read, documents a licensed ferry there. At Tampa, secondary accounts describe Jesse Hayden’s ferry on the Hillsborough River after 1866.
Where Ferries Gave Way
Ferries sat where roads met rivers, at points with firm banks and a manageable current, and bridges were often later built at or near the same crossings. A secondary account says Tampa’s first Lafayette Street bridge, completed in 1889, was expected to end the ferry there. Yet a cable ferry was still photographed on the Suwannee in 1954. County commission and court records, where they survive, can document ferry grants and sometimes name the operator.
Quick Facts
Vessel
Flat-bottomed scow
Power
Pole or paddle on narrow water; a rope or cable between the banks on wider water
Territorial license
Acts and petitions to the Territorial Legislative Council, e.g., the February 15, 1834 act for William B. Hooker (Suwannee, Hamilton County)
Local grant
Thomas Piper, Hillsborough River, Tampa, May 23, 1846, four years (secondary)
Photographed cable ferries
Irvine’s Ferry, Luraville, about 1882; Rock Bluff Landing, 1954 (State Archives of Florida)
White Springs
Ferry and spring bought by Bryant Sheffield in 1836 per the Park Service; some summaries say 1832
Tampa
Hayden’s ferry after 1866; first Lafayette Street bridge, 1889 (secondary)
Tolls
Rates not established from the sources examined
Did You Know?
- Florida territorial legislators passed acts naming individual ferry operators.
- A cable ferry was still photographed crossing the Suwannee River in 1954.
- Many modern river bridges stand at or near old ferry crossings.
Vocabulary
Scow: a flat-bottomed boat with a square bow and stern.
Toll: a fee charged for using a road, bridge or ferry.
Ferryman: a person who runs a ferry and collects the fares.
Discussion Questions
1. Why would a ferry be placed where a road met a river?
2. What kinds of records might tell us who ran a ferry?
Related Articles
- FLH-0110 — Wagon Travel
- FLH-0112 — River Travel
- FLH-0120 — Crossing the Suwannee
- FLH-0114 — Stage Routes
Sources
State Archives of Florida. Act of the Territorial Legislative Council authorizing William Brinton Hooker to establish a ferry across the Suwannee River, February 15, 1834. Florida Memory, item 346965 (catalog record; text not read)
State Archives of Florida. Territorial Legislative Council ferry petitions (Escambia, Apalachicola, Ochlockonee, Wakulla and Withlacoochee rivers), Florida Memory items 347146, 347447, 347448 and 348432 (catalog records; images not examined)
State Archives of Florida photographs: Irvine’s Ferry, Luraville (about 1882), item 26824; Rock Bluff Landing cable ferry (1954), item 33537 (catalog records)
Florida Division of Historical Resources. Markers “Kings Ferry” and “Site of Cow Ford.” markers.flheritage.com (web summaries)
Florida State Parks. “The Spring House at Stephen Foster.” floridastateparks.org
Tampa local-history site tampapix.com. “Hayden’s Ferry Crossing: Where Was It?” (secondary; not independently examined; cites Robinson, History of Hillsborough County, 1928)
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