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 business. When competition threatened the enterprise, Jacob's widow, Betty Cannon, successfully petitioned the Delaware General Assembly in 1793 for sole and exclusive rights to operate the service. Members of the Cannon family continued running the ferry until the mid-19th century. In 1883, the legislature authorized county government to establish and maintain a public ferry across the Nanticoke River at the place then known as Woodland, formerly 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 took responsibility for road maintenance and ferry operation, and landing areas on both sides of the river were improved and have been maintained jointly by the state and local citizens.