White’s Ferry owners offer to donate operation to Montgomery County

Makea Luzader
·2 min read
15

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — Chuck and Stacy Kuhn, the owners of White’s Ferry, announced Tuesday that they “have formally offered to donate” the ferry’s operations to Montgomery County.

The ferry, which spans the Potomac River, first closed in December 2020 after a long legal battle between the ferry’s previous owner and Rockland Farm, which owns the land on the Virginia side of the crossing.

The ferry had provided a crossing from Montgomery County in Maryland to Loudoun County in Virginia for over 200 years before it was shut down. Montgomery County officials previously told DC News Now that the ferry provided almost 800 trips each day while it was running.

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In a statement, JK Land Holdings — which Chuck Kuhn is CEO of — said that the couple had previously offered to purchase an easement to access the Virginia landing, but Rockland Farm had rejected that offer.

The statement said that the Kuhns had also offered for Rockland Farm to buy the ferry operations and an easement to the Maryland shoreline, but that offer was rejected as well.

“Our donation will be the best way forward. This is not what we had originally envisioned, but we recognize the importance of White’s Ferry to our region. With this donation, we believe that Montgomery County will be able to work with Virginia to get the ferry moving again,” Chuck Kuhn said in the statement.

The donation is welcome news for Montgomery County Officials. County Executive Marc Elrich released a statement Tuesday evening following the donation announcement saying in part:

Earlier today, the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) met with the Kuhn’s representatives to begin discussing the nature and timing of the donation. I look forward to finalizing these arrangements. This is a necessary step toward restoring the ferry services that are so important to the residents and businesses in and around the Town of Poolesville, C&O Canal National Park visitors and residents and businesses around the Town of Leesburg, Virginia.

I am optimistic that we can reach an agreement on the terms of the donation and build momentum toward a complete solution to the issues that led to the cessation of ferry service over three years ago.

County Executive Marc Elrich

JK Land Holdings said that this donation would require Montgomery and Loudoun counties to work together to gain access to the Virginia landing and reopen the ferry sooner rather than later.

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