Breaking: Historic White’s Ferry Sold
A deal was made official yesterday for the purchase of White’s Ferry, the adjacent store, and the portion of Maryland shoreline used for operations, to Chuck and Stacy Kuhn, owners of JK Moving Services.
The Kuhns are working with the owners of Rockland Farm to restore service to and from Virginia. They hope to either buy the Virginia landing site or come to an agreement with Rockland Farm to ensure that future ferry service is not disrupted.
White’s Ferry had ceased operations back on December 28th over a legal dispute with Rockland Farms.
Chuck Kuhn, owner JK Moving Services
In a statement released this evening, Chuck Kuhn said “The previous owners of White’s Ferry have done a remarkable job serving the community.”
“They have sold the ferry with the hopes that we would have a better chance of opening the ferry than he did. We look forward to bringing a fresh perspective to the ferry, enhancing the experience for riders and making a number of upgrades to the store.”
White’s Ferry Grill, the locally owned restaurant at White’s Ferry, will continue to operate.
Read the full press release below:
STERLING, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Chuck Kuhn, founder and CEO of JK Moving Services, and his wife Stacy Kuhn, have come to terms on a purchase of White’s Ferry in Leesburg, Virginia, helping protect an important Potomac River crossing with a long history. Established in 1786, the Ferry ceased operation in December 2020. Kuhn will be working with Peter Brown, the majority owner of Rockland Farm, in an effort to get the ferry reopened to the nearly 800 daily users.
“White’s Ferry represents a piece of our region’s past as an early commerce route that built and sustained local economies and remains so today. This fits with my family’s interest in conserving land and history as well as supporting business and the local communities. White’s Ferry has provided an important and scenic transportation alternative to the swelling demands on our local roads,” explained Kuhn. “We look forward to working with nearby landowners and local jurisdictions to make this viable for the region.”
Kuhn finalized the purchase terms on February 11, 2021, which includes the ferry, the store, and the Maryland shoreline that supports the ferry operation. Necessary repairs to the ferry and property are taking place immediately and replacement cables are on site to fix the ferry following December storm damage and are ready for install as soon as reasonable terms are negotiated with Peter Brown and Rockland Farm on the Virginia side. The goal is to purchase the Virginia land site or negotiate a permanent easement with Rockland Farm so that the ferry never ceases operating again. The ferry can be operational within seven days of being granted Virginia shore rights.
“The previous owners of White’s Ferry have done a remarkable job serving the community,” commented Kuhn. “They have sold the ferry with the hopes that we would have a better chance of opening the ferry than he did. We look forward to bringing a fresh perspective to the ferry, enhancing the experience for riders and making a number of upgrades to the store.”
The Kuhns will begin working with the Coast Guard, Loudoun County, Montgomery County and the owner Rockland Farm to open the ferry. The Kuhns plan to make a number of upgrades to the ferry over the next few years, bringing more operational and environmental efficiencies to improve services and preserve a piece of history.
Other ways that Kuhn, his family and his company have protected local landmarks and supported the community include:
- Purchasing Westpark with the intention of placing 135 of those acres into a conservation easement for a park and to protect the open space from future development.
- Partnering with Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy to buy and place into conservation easement an 87-acre parcel of land in northern Loudoun County called Stumptown Woods that has more native species of plants and wildlife indigenous to Loudoun and Virginia than is typical.
- Starting the JK Community Farm, a charitable effort designed to alleviate hunger by growing and harvesting crops and livestock and donating them to local foodbanks, on 150 acres of conserved land in Purcellville.
- Buying the historic Middleburg Training Center, which was placed into conservation easement and is now fully renovated.
- Purchasing and placing several thousand acres near Loudoun’s historic villages into easement, including Egypt Farm–which had been previously owned by developers, the historic Wolver Hill farm in Middleburg, and recently three farms outside the town of Waterford.
As the founder of JK Moving Services–the largest independently owned and operated moving company in North America, Kuhn employs nearly 1,100 people—a majority of which live in the Washington, DC metropolitan region. The company and Kuhn have won numerous awards, including being recognized by the Washington Business Journal as a Best Place to Work and Top Corporate Philanthropist, Loudoun Chamber as a Community Leader, and Old Dominion Land Conservancy for its conservation efforts.
Joint Statement by Local Leaders on Historic White’s Ferry
Last week, Historic White’s Ferry announced they would be ceasing operations immediately after the Circuit Court of Loudon County ruled that no public landing exists on the Virginia Shoreline at White’s Ferry Road, prohibiting the ferry from landing at that location in Virginia.
Rockland Farm released a statement responding to the announcement later that day.
Maryland State Senator Brian J. Feldman released a joint statement on Historic White’s Ferry on his Facebook page over the weekend.
The joint statement is by Senator Feldman, Montgomery County Councilmember Andrew Friedson, Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo, Delegate Kathleen M. Dumais, Delegate Lily Qi, and the Town of Poolesville Commissioners.
It can be seen below:
“We fully understand the importance of White’s Ferry to residents and businesses of Western Montgomery and the region and are committed to exercising every option we have available to get this critical transportation link reopened and running as quickly as possible.
As soon as we became aware of the closure, we have been working collaboratively at the county, state, and municipal levels to engage with the private parties and officials in Loudoun County and Virginia.
We are working closely with the Maryland Secretary of Transportation, the Montgomery County Director of Transportation, and the County Attorney and in direct communication with their counterparts across the Potomac River.
This is a complicated legal dispute between two private entities (Rockland Farm in Virginia and the Brown Family in Maryland) over land beyond the state and county’s borders.
We have dedicated every resource at our disposal to this issue and will continue to work with our public and private counterparts throughout the region to resolve the issue.
We will keep our residents informed throughout the process with any and all information we are able to share.”
Councilmember Andrew Friedson
Senator Brian Feldman
Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo
Delegate Kathleen M. Dumais
Delegate Lily Qi
Town of Poolesville Commissioners
White’s Ferry Grill Continues to Operate Despite White’s Ferry Ceasing Operations
About a year and a half ago, Devin Ramazon and his father saw the White’s Ferry Store & Grill building up for lease. Neither had been involved in the restaurant business before, but they knew how to make a good burger and decided to take a chance.
The burgers quickly made a name for themselves as many who have had them started calling them the best in MoCo/MD, rivaling the Sunshine General Store’s Sunshine Burger.
“I grew up eating Sunshine burgers, so I knew I had to make these great” said Devin when we stopped by on New Year’s Eve.
Business has been good since the Ramazons took over. They’ve made regulars out of those who used the ferry for their daily commute and had plenty of people driving through stop by the grill to pick up a meal or a snack, but that all changed last week.
On Monday, December 28th White’s Ferry announced that it would cease operations after the Circuit Court of Loudon County ruled that no public landing exists on the Virginia Shoreline at White’s Ferry Road, prohibiting the ferry from landing at that location in Virginia (Rockland Farms issued a statement in response).
”The weather has gotten colder, so we don’t have as many people here for the C&O canal and now nobody can drive through, but we’re hanging in there.” said Devin when asked about how business has been in the few days since the ferry’s closure.
Regardless of the outcome with the ferry situation, White’s Ferry Grill will continue to operate.
The small general store offers drinks, snacks, a small selection of beer and wine, and a few other random items.
The grill offers breakfast sandwiches, burgers, deli sandwiches, chicken tender and wing platters, and their famous pickle sandwich that uses a large pickle instead of bread as the bun. Full menu available here.
Below you’ll see the Reuben and pickle sandwich.
If you’re looking for a mini road trip within the county and want to see what all the hype is about…consider checking out White’s Ferry Grill.
There’s plenty of picnic table surrounding the grill, as well as an outdoor patio, and the view of the river makes for an amazing backdrop.
Historic Rockland Farm (Virginia) Responds to White Ferry Announcement Regarding Ceasing Operations
Earlier today White’s Ferry announced that is had ceased operations after the Circuit Court of Loudon County ruled that no public landing exists on the Virginia Shoreline at White’s Ferry Road, prohibiting the ferry from landing at that location in Virginia.
Historic Rockland Farm, no association to Rocklands Farm Winery in Poolesville, has released a statement via their social media explaining their side of the story.
“In 1871, Loudoun County condemned a landing at Rockland Farm of 1 perch by 16 perches for a Ferry landing called Conrad’s Ferry. At that time there were many ferries that crossed the Potomac River between Virginia and Maryland such as Edward’s Ferry and Sphinx Ferry. Unfortunately, there are no records that show where the condemnation for Conrad’s ferry occurred. In 1947, Elijah White wanted to reopen Conrad’s Ferry under the name White’s Ferry after a terrible flood which had closed Conrad’s ferry for a long time. They sent a letter to Rockland Farm acknowledging that they had no right to use Rockland’s property for the landing and asked the owners of Rockland Farm, for an agreement. In 1952, Elizabeth Rust Brown and Stanley Noel Brown, owners of Rockland Farm entered into a licensing agreement with White’s Ferry for $5.00 per year for the use of a landing at Rockland Farm so long as the ferry landing was never changed or enlarged under its current configuration. Since that time, White’s Ferry evolved from being a small operation of a few cars per day to a major commuter route.
Sixteen years ago, on July 4th weekend, White’s Ferry (without prior notification or permission from Rockland and without obtaining any government permits) unlawfully enlarged the ferry landing and built structures on Rockland. So doing violated a license agreement between White’s Ferry and Rockland that had been in place for more than half a century. Since then Rockland has been attempting to work out some fair arrangement with the owners of White’s Ferry. In response, all White’s Ferry has done is to delay, delay, delay, all the while making millions of dollars off the use of Rockland. Finally, after being stonewalled time and again by White’s Ferry, Rockland had no choice but to file suit on December 2, 2009. After many attempts to settle the case out of court which delayed the trial by years, the suit was decided in Rockland’s favor on November 23rd, 2020. The court definitively ruled that the owners of White’s Ferry had been and are trespassing and are no longer able to make use of Rockland without Rockland’s permission.
Since that decision over four weeks ago, Rockland Farm has made numerous attempts to reach White’s Ferry in order to negotiate a fair and equitable solution that will keep the ferry running. Rockland has offered to purchase White’s ferry, to be paid rent for its land, and to consider other arrangements that will keep the ferry running. On multiple occasions, White’s Ferry told Rockland Farm that it would get back to Rockland on certain dates, but missed their own deadlines. Multiple attempts to reach White’s Ferry have gone unanswered. All the while White’s Ferry continued, unjustly and now in violation of a court ruling, to make money off of the use of Rockland.
Rockland Farm knows that it is in everyone’s best interest to keep the ferry running and sent White’s Ferry an interim licensing agreement so that the ferry operation could continue without interruption until a deal between the two parties could be negotiated. Rockland Farm received no response from White’s Ferry. Having not gotten a response from White’s Ferry, Rockland Farm wrote to them last Wednesday letting them know that if Rockland did not hear back from them by noon on Monday, it would send a final notice of entry of Order to the court. Instead of engaging with Rockland Farm to negotiate a fair and equitable arrangement to keep the ferry running, the response by White’s Ferry was to close the ferry and walk away from the business.”
BREAKING: White’s Ferry Ceasing Operations Immediately
In a post on Historic White’s Ferry Facebook page, an announcement was made informing the public that White’s Ferry will be ceasing operations immediately after the Circuit Court of Loudon County ruled that no public landing exists on the Virginia Shoreline at White’s Ferry Road, prohibiting the ferry from landing at that location in Virginia.
White’s Ferry is the last remaining ferry in Montgomery County.
The full statement can be seen below:
White’s Ferry regrets to inform the public that it will cease its Potomac River ferry operation between White’s Ferry Road in Montgomery County, Maryland and White’s Ferry Road in Loudoun County, Virginia effective immediately. The Circuit Court of Loudoun County, Virginia has ruled, in the case of Rockland Farm, LLC, et al. v. White’s Ferry, Inc., that no public landing exists on the Virginia shoreline at White’s Ferry Road and the ferry is prohibited from landing at that location in Virginia. As of the date of this press release Loudoun County, Virginia has declined to establish a public landing at that location.
