Until five years ago, hundreds of people per day still relied upon one of the Chesapeake Bay region’s most historic ferries. White’s Ferry, the last of the Potomac River’s 100 ferries still in use, shut down in 2020 due to a property dispute. Years of attempts to reconcile the dispute have not yielded a solution and drivers have had to find an alternate route.
Now, a group of government leaders are offering a financial incentive to prompt the two sides to reach a deal. The state of Maryland, Montgomery County, and the town of Poolesville are putting up $3 million to reopen the ferry.
White’s Ferry carried people and vehicles across the Potomac River between Poolesville, Maryland, and Loudoun County, Virginia for an incredible 234 years. The ferry’s owner has always controlled the Maryland ferry landing, but the landing on the Virginia side sits on private property belonging to Rockland Farm, a historic property in Leesburg.
After an 11-year legal fight between Rockland Farm owner Libby Devlin and the longtime ferry owner over the usage of Rockland property, a court ruled that “no public landing exists on the Virginia shoreline at White’s Ferry Road and the ferry is prohibited from landing at that location in Virginia.”
The ferry had been in the same family since World War II, but owner Herbert Brown sold it after the court ruling. New owner, Loudoun County businessman Chuck Kuhn and his company, JK Landing Holdings, bought the property. A spokesman says the goal was to reopen the ferry in the most expeditious manner possible.
JK Landing Holdings made an effort a year ago to donate the White’s Ferry business operation and equipment to Montgomery County. A White’s Ferry spokesman says the company was “very surprised and disappointed to learn” that the county would not accept the donation offer.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich sent a letter jointly to Kuhn and Devlin, making one “final attempt” to reconcile the property dispute by offering them a $3 million public subsidy as an incentive. He acknowledges that both Kuhn and Devlin have made attempts to find a solution, but each attempt hasn’t worked out for various reasons. Read Elrich’s letter in full.
Falling under the Montgomery County Capital Improvements Program, the incentive is funded by $1.5 million of state aid from Maryland’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget. Elrich would match the state funds with $1.5 million of county and Town of Poolesville funds.
In the letter, he calls White’s Ferry a vital Potomac River crossing. It carried 600-800 vehicles a day before its closure. The five years since have taken their toll, the county executive says. “With each passing year, the connections between the communities served by the ferry have weakened, local businesses have suffered, family connections have been strained, and thousands of additional miles of travel have been required by those who need to travel between eastern Loudoun County, Virginia and western Montgomery County, Maryland,” he writes in the letter.
On the Virginia side, Leesburg Mayor Kelly Burk says many residents were using the ferry on a daily basis. Its closure meant one less transportation alternative for the overused Rt. 15. It discouraged Maryland residents, who would use the ferry to come over to Leesburg for shopping and dining, from supporting Leesburg businesses. The loss of the ferry has added 25–30 additional minutes each way to the drive, Burk says.
Ultimately, Elrich says, he believes the only way the ferry can restart is through the two property owners’ action. In his letter, he writes, “I implore you to look past the fraught history of this disagreement and take action to restore this vital service. The two of you, and likely only the two of you, can end this impasse that has so deeply harmed communities in both Maryland and Virginia.”
The funds are to be used to structure a business arrangement, whether it be for property rights, equipment purchase, or other capital investment needed for the ferry. County Council must approve the use of funds and requires that ferry service resumes by a certain date and continues to operate. The $3 million comes with a deadline of July 1, 2026, for a binding agreement. Can it be done? Time will tell.
Devlin says in a statement to Chesapeake Bay Magazine:
Rockland Farm is grateful to the town of Poolesville and the State of Maryland for coming forth with this incentive to restart ferry services. We also thank Montgomery County for facilitating this arrangement and for their offer of continued assistance to resolve the matter. Given this new incentive, I am hopeful that we will come up with a fair arrangement which gets a ferry running as soon as possible.
As far as next steps, Devlin says, “I expect to continue discussions with the Maryland owner, Montgomery County and Loudoun County to resolve the matter.”
Kuhn and JK Land Holdings stress, that the company “has never asked for or expected any funds from the taxpayers of Montgomery County.” They are reviewing the proposal and speaking again with Montgomery and Loudoun counties leaders, as well as Rockland Farm. JK Landing Holdings say they remain committed to finding a resolution that will get the crossing open as soon as possible.
