By the 1740s, James Cannon regularly operated a ferry service at this location. His son Jacob succeeded him and built a much-needed causeway on this side of the river to improve the family business. When competitors threatened the operation, Jacob's widow, Betty Cannon, successfully petitioned the Delaware General Assembly in 1793 for sole and exclusive rights to run the service. Members of the Cannon family continued operating the ferry until the mid-19th century. In 1883, the legislature authorized the county government to establish and maintain a public ferry across the Nanticoke River at the place then known as Woodland and formerly known as Cannon's Ferry, and required that all citizens of the state, with their teams, wagons, and carriages, be carried across free of charge between sunrise and sunset. In 1935, the State of Delaware assumed responsibility for maintaining the roads and operating the ferry. In 2008, a larger, modernized six-car ferry entered service and was renamed the Tina Fallon to honor State Representative Tina Fallon, who served this area in the Delaware General Assembly from 1978 to 2006.