Ferries

From Canoes to Fast Ferries

The first ferries in the United States were canoes. In May 1631, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony granted the right to operate a ferry between Winnisimmet and Boston. A rower for a few pennies transported a single passenger, allowing the passenger's horse to swim behind the canoe. The ferry was a success. In 1712, legislation required a third boat be added to the fleet, and in 1749, additional legislation mandated that four boats operate for the transportation of passengers. Two of the boats were required to have sails in addition to oars; it also required two sober and able-bodied men to operate the boats and set operation hours. The Winnisimmet Ferry operated continuously until 1917. The Rocky Hill Ferry holds the record for the nation's oldest continuously operating ferry. From 1655 until its closing in 2011, the ferry transported passengers across the Connecticut River, privately operated for the first 260 years and operated by the state of Connecticut from 1915 until its closing.

The busiest ferry system in the United States traces its beginnings back to the 18th century, when it was run by private companies. It was not until 1905 that the City of New York took control of the Staten Island Ferry system. The first year of operation under the city's authority saw five new coal-burning steam ferries launched, each named for a borough of New York, and a nickel allowed a passenger to ride aboard one of them. In 1964, the year the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge linking Staten Island and Manhattan opened, 27.5 million passengers crossed New York Harbor on the Staten Island Ferry. The following year, the number had dropped by 5.5 million. In 2012, total ferry ridership was over 22 million. Another estimated 18 million passengers use private ferry operations.

The Staten Island Ferry may carry the most passengers, but Washington State holds the distinction of having the largest ferry system in the nation. Beginning in 1852 when the first boats of the famed Mosquito Fleet, so named because there were so many of them, filled the waters of Puget Sound, ferries have carried people and goods back and forth across the Sound. From those early days through the early 20th century, ferries were the major mode of transportation in a region where roads were poor where they existed at all.

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