Ferries operated in the Millersburg area by the 1760s, and when Daniel Miller founded the town in 1807 he reserved ferry rights for himself. In 1817, George Carson of Upper Paxton Township and Michael Crow of Cumberland County, now Perry County, negotiated the use of Crow's land as a ferry landing. In the early 1800s, man-powered skiffs and flat boats carried passengers and freight across the mile-wide river, and in 1826 a sheriff's sale transferred Miller's proprietary reserve and ferry rights to David Kramer, after which the ferry passed through a succession of owners including George and Joseph Kramer, Joseph Johnson, John Freck, Ramsey Moyer, Levi McConnell, Richard McConnell, H. M. Hain, Annie Miller, Pierce McConnell, John Travitz, George Seiler, Warren Hunter, Thomas Radel, Bud and Robert Wallis, Jim Zeiders, and Robert Wallis as sole owner in 1972. In 1873, the first steam-powered boat, the Enterprise, entered service as a side-wheeler, and the ferry wall was built of rocks and dirt from the river bottom to provide deeper water for larger, heavier boats with deeper drafts. After Levi McConnell bought the ferry in 1890 and combined it with a competing operation run with his brother Richard, improvements at Crow's landing on the west bank, including picnic tables, bathhouses, and a concession stand, helped make the west side a popular swimming and recreation area because the east side contained raw sewage and coal mine drainage. In 1905, the first gasoline-powered boat, the Dinky Boat, entered service, and according to legend a 1919 race between a stern-wheeled coal dredge and a side-wheeled ferry boat led to the ferry's conversion to stern-wheel propulsion. Under Hunter and Radel, the western shore recreation area became Maple Grove Park, with a bandstand for concerts and a water slide that pumped water to the top so swimmers could ride down on a board into the river. In the 1920s, the first versions of the Roaring Bull and the Falcon were launched as stern-wheel boats with a pilot house, a roof over the passenger deck, and a barge alongside for vehicles, and the 1920s and 1930s became a golden era when as many as four boats were needed because the nearest bridges were 15 miles south or 30 miles north. In 1990, Community Banks, N.A. of Millersburg bought the ferry from Robert Wallis and gave it to the Millersburg community, which formed the Millersburg Ferry Boat Association, a nine-member board from various community organizations that oversees seasonal operation while preserving its historic value. In 1998, Roaring Bull was rebuilt for the fifth time, its gasoline engine replaced with a diesel engine, and its paddle wheel upgraded to a hydraulic drive. After 35 years of work, the ferry system gained National Historic Register status in 2006 just before Millersburg's bicentennial, and under United States Coast Guard oversight its certified pilots and boats continue to carry nearly 20,000 passengers a year, including bicyclists and Amish buggies.