The Ferry at London Town

Ferries were a critical link in the colonial road system, and the crossing at London Town formed part of a transportation network stretching from Virginia to New York that carried people, goods, and news. By the 1730s, nearly every road in Anne Arundel County led to a ferry crossing or boat landing, and the waits for passage encouraged taverns, or ordinaries, at the landings. Because of its location at an important junction of roads, London Town became a busy port town that at its height had perhaps 300 residents, and travelers going from Williamsburg to Philadelphia or New York most likely passed through London Town and crossed the South River by ferry. A ferry crossing was established there sometime in the 1680s or earlier, using a small vessel about 30 feet long rowed by slaves or indentured servants owned by the ferrykeeper, with boats making several crossings each day. The landing opposite London Town was called Ferry Point, and the road from there led to Annapolis, only three and a half miles away. David Macklefish, an immigrant from Scotland, was the town's first ferrykeeper, and after his death in 1711 his wife Alice received a license to operate the ferry and their nearby tavern. Ferry licenses were renewed yearly, and ferrymasters could lose them if service was not safe and efficient, since schedules and prices were regulated. From 1715 to 1740, traffic at London Town was heavy enough to support two ferry crossings: the old ferry, taken over by William Wooton in 1727 and abandoned after his death in 1740, and the new ferry, begun in 1715 by tavernkeeper Edward Rumney at the end of Scott Street and later operated by Stephen West and William Brown well into the 1800s after the town's decline.

Edgewater, Maryland · United States