Crossing Water

Once on board the ferry, a quick horn blast announces departure to the passengers. The ramp is raised, deckhands roll the heavy guardrail into place, blocking the entrance, and the ferry noses out onto the river. Back when riding the ferry was commonplace, most people stayed in their cars, busy reading the newspaper or listening to the radio; but I would get out of my car and walk to the rail. The smell of the Old Devil River would roll over me; and sometimes, looking into the fast-moving water, I would see muddy patches of earth floating along from as far away as Minnesota and Illinois. In 1939, during spring thaw in the north, huge chunks of ice could be seen floating by.

I moved away from Louisiana but came back for visits, which always included a ride on one of the ferries. When I retired, curiosity and time led me back to those ferries, but I could not find a single book that detailed a history of Louisiana’s Mississippi River ferries. So I decided to write one. Presented here is a peek at my work along with photographs—both contemporary and historical—that elucidate a time when the river presented a significant, though surmountable, barrier.

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The Mississippi River was considered one of the most difficult rivers in America to cross, though that never stopped anyone. Many types of boats and methods of crossing were used to ferry people and goods across its rushing current. Native Americans would use two canoes to float a wagon, placing the front and back wheels from each side of the wagon in a canoe. These were replaced by flat-bottomed boats, which were rowed, poled, or paddled across the river, sometimes attached to a rope that spanned the crossing point. There were also skiffs and “flying bridges” that were secured by chain to a buoy anchored midstream. Teamboats appeared in the early 1800s, on which were boarded mules or horses to power treadmills that drove paddle wheels. As the country expanded westward, traffic bottlenecked at the river where travelers would wait for days in lines up to ten miles long to board a ferry. These bottlenecks eased with the invention of Robert Fulton’s steam engine, allowing much larger ferries to carry people and goods faster and in more comfort.

The death knell of the ferries tolled in 1930 with the opening of a bridge between Delta, Louisiana, and Vicksburg, Mississippi. It was followed in 1935 by the Huey P. Long Bridge, the first in Louisiana that could transport both automobiles and railroad cars across the river above New Orleans. In 1940, two more opened: one between Vidalia and Natchez and the other between Baton Rouge and Port Allen, also called the Huey P. Long, that served Highway 190 and the Kansas City Southern Railroad. Although the bridge was only four miles north of the Port Allen-Baton Rouge ferry crossing, ferry operation continued until 1968 when the Horace Wilkinson Bridge was completed, transporting I-10 traffic across the river.

Before railroad bridges were built, trains were transported by ferry. Railroad cars were pushed onto specially made ferries inlaid with railroad track. Driving north from Port Allen on the old River Road (Highway 987), about midway to the Huey P. Long Bridge, one can see remnants of a railroad trestle where trains passed over the highway, across the levee, and down to the river. A community known as Sunrise (indicated now by a historical marker) grew around the busy crossing, which accommodated passenger trains, circus trains, and WWII troop trains.

(L to r) (1) Marion Kahn (second from left), William Gibbons (ferry chief engineer, fourth from left), and others standing on the deck of the ferry “Louisiana.” 7.75" x 9.75". Courtesy of the West Baton Rouge Museum. (2) A view of the Crescent City Connection bridge from the Canal Street-Algiers ferry. Photo by Mike Redaelli. (3) The caption on this image reads, “THE ‘MASTODON’ Southern Pacific Railway Barge, the Largest of its Class in the World, crossing Mississippi River at Avondale, ten miles above New Orleans, La.” The Historic New Orleans Collection, Gift of Mr. Boyd Cruise, acc. no. 1958. 85. 303.

An image by the popular photographer Fonville Winans captured the heyday of ferry travel at the Baton Rouge-Port Allen crossing (bottom, far left). Pictured are the Louisiana, the Thomas Pickles, and the City of Baton Rouge.

The Louisiana was the largest of all the ferryboats and considered the finest ferryboat on the Mississippi. It arrived in 1926 with cabins finished in a manner equal to that of passenger steamers and a lunchroom provided on the upper deck. It was capable of carrying sixty to seventy automobiles and close to one thousand people. For eighty-three years, the Louisiana ferried traffic across the Mississippi; but when the Horace Wilkinson bridge opened in 1968, it went to work in Plaquemines Parish. It is now used as a maintenance barge at the Belle Chasse ferry crossing (bottom middle) still useful, but also a slightly forlorn reminder of a more glorious past.

A model of the Louisiana, built by Mr. Ernest Busby, a trustee at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, will be on permanent display at the West Baton Rouge Museum’s Perkins Gallery during the month of June (pictured far right, with Curator Angélique Bergeron).

The ferries that crossed between Baton Rouge and Port Allen were popular for much more than utilitarian transport. Folks would ride back and forth across the river, picnicking and dancing; at one time, refreshments were sold on board. LSU students would also take dates on the ferry, riding all evening while watching the sun set; and during home games, cars would line up for miles.

If you were The Kingfish himself, though, you didn’t have to worry about lines. When Long had to hop the ferry, his secretary would call ahead to order operators to hold the boat. His driver would pass all the other cars in line and then order immediate departure, leaving the long line of cars behind. Resistance to this arrangement might have spelled the institution of a “free ferry” system … anathema to the lucrative ferry franchise.

One of the other characters associated with the ferry crossing was George West, also known as “The Messiah, “The Prophet of the River,” or “The Old River Preacher.” In Port Allen, where Jefferson Avenue intersects with Court Street, one can find a mural that depicts this popular, elderly black preacher robed in a long white gown. Bent over, standing barefoot in the water, he preached at the ferry landing holding a stick fashioned into a cross. He baptized anyone who was willing, insisting that baptisms happen in the water, not with the water. He died shortly after the Horace Wilkinson bridge opened.

(L to r) (1) This painting by Louisiana artist Don Wright appeared on “Country Roads’” August 2004 cover. The painting depicts George West, known in his time as “The Prophet of the River,” watching a newly baptized believer crossing toward a greener bank. (2) This wall mural in Port Allen, on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Court Street, is based on a photograph taken of George West. Photo by Ila Reinstein.

The most recent ferry closing occurred in July of 2013 between Reserve and Edgard. That leaves only five ferries still in operation on the Mississippi River in Louisiana (there are two other ferries serving different bodies of water). There are two in New Orleans: the Canal Street-Algiers ferry, which carries only foot traffic, and the ferry from Lower Algiers to Chalmette. The Plaquemine to Sunshine ferry is also still in operation; in the afternoon, with change of shifts at the chemical plants along the river, one can still count on waiting in a long line of cars. Two ferry crossings vital to the people of Plaquemines Parish are also still in operation: one between Belle Chasse and Scarsdale and one between East Pointe and West Pointe à la Hache.

(L to r) (1) The “Sen. Alvin T. Stumpf” is the foot ferry that runs between Canal Street and Algiers Point. Photo by Mike Redaelli. (2) Traffic at the Plaquemine-Sunshine crossing, taken circa 1989. Photo by Ila Reinstein.

Ila would like to thank the West Baton Rouge Museum in Port Allen and Mr. Coley Hill, who created a CD detailing the crossing’s history. If you have photographs or memories you’d be willing to share for research purposes, please contact her at la.ferry.tales@gmail.com. Check out the website friendsoftheferry.org; it has photographs, ferry history, and current information on New Orleans ferries running today. Also, take time to ride one of the existing ferries or go the virtual route: youtube.com/watch?v=l_LKEk_bqZo.