All 3 of North Carolina’s cable ferries are operating again for the first time in years
One of the state’s three remaining inland river ferries is back in business — floating cars, no more than two at a time — across the Cape Fear River in a remote part of Bladen County.
The Elwell Ferry resumed operations on Monday, making the 100-yard crossing between Kelly and N.C. 53 on the north side and the community of Carvers, off N.C. 87, on the south. The ferry is the only way across the river between Elizabethtown and U.S. 11 near Reiglewood, a distance of 28 miles.
The N.C. Department of Transportation suspended the service early in 2020 after the man who operated the ferry died. Strapped for cash as the COVID-19 pandemic cut gas tax revenue, NCDOT put off seeking a new contractor, said spokesman Andrew Barksdale.
When NCDOT sought someone to restart the ferry the following year, the winning bidder couldn’t get the necessary insurance coverage, Barksdale said. NCDOT then decided to send the boat to Wilmington for a full inspection and refurbishment, which reduced the cost of insurance.
ICRO Enterprises Inc. of Greenville won an $86,200 contract to operate the ferry for one year, with options to renew.
“The plan has always been to replace the contractor and keep the Elwell Ferry operating,” Barksdale said. “We know how important this service is.”
The Elwell Ferry carries about 75 cars and small trucks a day across the river, usually one at a time. The ferry operates during daylight hours seven days a week.
Summer is the busiest season, when travelers from outside the area go out of their way to experience a holdover from an earlier era.
Ferries guided by ropes or cables fixed to each shore were once common on North Carolina’s rivers. The Ewell Ferry, named for the family that owned a lot of land in the area, made its first run in 1905, when passengers were on horseback, in a wagon or on foot.
The ferry carried its first car in about 1916, the Fayetteville Observer reported in 1996.
The state’s cable ferries were privately owned and operated before the state began building bridges that made most of them obsolete. NCDOT took over the remaining three in places where the traffic and the location wouldn’t justify the expense of building a bridge.
The other two are the Sans Souci Ferry that crosses the Cashie River in Bertie County and Parker’s Ferry across the Meherrin River in Hertford County, both tributaries of Albemarle Sound. All three ferries have been overhauled and refurbished in recent years.
Monday was the first day all three have been in operation since 2018.
The ferries are free to ride. If you come to the ferry landing and the boat is across the river, you simply honk or wave and the ferry tender will come get you.
This story was originally published October 10, 2022 at 4:51 PM.
