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Ashley Pillar, ferry master on the Hatton Ferry, takes a photograph of the King family from Richmond. The family came down to Scottsville for the day just to ride the ferry, before its scheduled closing at the end of the month.
The Hatton Ferry, one of only two pole-powered public ferries left in the continental United States, is slated to shut down at month's end.
Ashley Pillar cranks the wheel on the Hatton Ferry to tighten the cable above that helps pull the ferry across the James River in Scottsville.
Pillar pushes the Hatton Ferry across the James River after dropping off cars and visitors on the other side--the same way the vessel was propelled when it started in 1870. |
SCOTTSVILLE
--Getting the nod, young Caleb King grabbed the large wheel on the side of the floating steel platform and spun it for all he was worth.His effort tightened one of two lines running from the deck of the massive Hatton Ferry to the heavy cable above spanning the brown, roiling waters of the James River.
Slowly, as the visiting Richmond youngster kept at it, the tightening line pulled the nose of the vehicle- and people-mover slightly upriver.
As if by magic, the floating silver-painted platform began to move ahead, the upriver surfaces of the craft that once served customers in Suffolk acting like a sail to generate forward motion.
"On a day like this, we'll make the crossing pretty easily in five minutes, and take just a little longer and a few pushes with the pole getting back," said ferry master Ashley Pillar.
The Scottsville resident added, "Later in the summer, when the water's down and slower, everything will take longer, 25 minutes or so on the return. And I'll spend more time pushing the ferry along with the pole."
Pillar and many who take joy in the history and unique nature of the Hatton Ferry near Scottsville hope there is a future for the VDOT-operated crossing that dates back to 1870.
The ferry--one of two pole-powered, public ferries still operating in the continental United States--is slated to be shut down later this month as part of a cost-cutting program VDOT has put in place to deal with falling revenues and rising costs.
The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, county and Scottsville officials and fans of the ferry all over have protested the termination, and hope that some sort of arrangement can be made to save the oft-threatened ferry service.
As it is, the ferry has been operating on a schedule that services mainly customers who come for the ride on Saturdays and Sundays from April 15 to Oct. 15. Friday service was trimmed earlier this year.
The ferry that connects a landing in Albemarle County with one in Buckingham County is one of only a handful still operating in a state that once had some 140 ferries shuttling cars, wagons and livestock across various rivers, creeks and bays.
"We have school groups from area schools who come to learn firsthand about the history of their state's own transportation system," said Pillar, who has operated the ferry on its weekend runs since 2002.
Once, the ferry had a connection to a country store that gave passengers from the Buckingham side free passage on the ferry, though it cost non-customers 50 cents.
The ferry once stayed busy ferrying pulpwood trucks from Buckingham forests to waiting railroad cars on the Albemarle side. It has hosted weddings, pulled an occasional paddler from the James and given scores of visitors a reason to come visit Scottsville.
"I think it's amazing, and am telling all my friends to come down and experience this," said Greg Long of Crozet, who motored over in his red, restored Citroën convertible. "This is a gem the state has to find a way to preserve."
Many, like Brian and Carla King of Richmond, who brought Caleb and his sisters on Sunday, have been rushing over in the past few weeks to see the ferry, for fear it won't be around much longer.
"We hope somehow it will still be here for us to come back and visit another year," said Carla King.
Pillar, who works as a contractor for VDOT, hopes something can be worked out, as well.
"It's amazing how many people it draws to our area," he said Sunday. "I had a family from Massachusetts this morning who made a point to come just for a crossing," he said. "I had a whole group of motorcyclists who missed their chance to cross last weekend and came all the way back this weekend to make it."
Pillar, who works at a men's clothing store in Charlottesville and as a flight instructor, loves the history of the ferry and sharing it with those who come to float from shore to shore.
"It's too much a part of our history here to lose it," said the Scottsville native, who hefts the fiberglass pole with practiced ease. "Our budget for the year is only $21,000, and we rarely spend that much because low water cuts our operating days in late summer."
He and others hope that the ferry, which took hits from various hurricanes and storms through the years, can survive this storm called recession.
"If more people had the chance to see this," said Essex Scales, of Charlottesville, "I don't think there's any way they could stop it. It's amazing."
Rob Hedelt: 540/374-5415
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com
| WHAT: One of two pole-powered ferries still operating in the continental United States
WHERE: Near Scottsville, just south of Charlottesille, a 90-minute drive from Fredericksburg
WHEN: Will operate at least through June 28 on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
MORE INFO: For directions and other details, go online to hattonferry.org or call 434/296-1492. |
