Tarver's Ferry

At a strategic crossing of Big Cypress Creek, this pioneer ferry carried settlers moving west into Texas through populous Jefferson on Big Cypress Bayou. Travelers headed to the Texas interior often came by horse or oxen and stopped for provisions at the nearby town of Coffeeville. The ferry operator was probably James L. Tarver, who lived on Coffeeville Road in the 1860s. Many years earlier, Caddo Indians forded the stream at this same point in their travels. By 1867, a bridge had been built at the crossing, and the ferry was no longer needed.

Texas · United States