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Millersburg Ferry

Perry County, Pennsylvania, and Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Photos 

Millersburg Ferry

Photo posted to Wikipedia by user Alanjj

License: Public domain: Released by author

View this photo at Wikimedia Commons

BH Photo #278076

Map 

Street View 

Description 

Reputed to be the oldest, of not the last, wooden double-stern-wheeled ferry/transportation system in the United States.Character and design of ferry has been unaltered, save for changes in engines, for well over a century. Roaring Bull V is the fifth vessel to use the historic name, built in 1998. Falcon III (third vessel of that name, slightly smaller) built in 1917.

The Susquehanna River is very shallow north of Harrisburg in most spots, and both ferries draw a draft of perhaps three feet, yet must still zig-zag across the river to avoid shallow spots behind a small dam of rock maintained to add another foot or so of depth to the river. Ferry operations thus will be suspended in periods of low or high water or high winds, or following flood damage to the dam.

Formerly a private operation, the ferry and its rights were purchased and donated to the Millersburg Chamber of Commerce in 1990, and is now operated as a non-profit association. Operations run May to mid-October, weekends and holidays, with daily operations June through Labor Day.

Facts 

Overview
Ferry across Susquehanna River
Location
Millersburg, Perry County, Pennsylvania, and Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
Status
Open seasonally, weather and river conditions permitting
Future prospects
Operated by local history/preservation society
History
Existing lease dates back to 1817, although a ferry operation supposedly predated this by several years.
Design
Ferry crossing, using 80-foot four-auto-capacity barges pushed by 50-foot flat-hulled stern-paddlewheeled boats with passenger porch, pilot house, and engine deck with 57-hp Deuetsch Diesels with hydraulic drive
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on August 2, 2006
Also called
Kramer-Crow Ferry
Approximate latitude, longitude
+40.54122, -76.97304   (decimal degrees)
40°32'28" N, 76°58'23" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
18/332914/4489700 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Millersburg
Inventory numbers
NRHP 06000663 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 60141 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (9,802)
Built 1817 (7)
Built during 1810s (62)
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania (154)
Ferry (216)
Have street view (30,595)
Millersburg, Pa. (1)
 NR-listed (3,028)
Open (41,564)
Owned privately (2,038)
Pennsylvania (7,023)
Perry County, Pennsylvania (107)
Preserved (1,254)

Update Log 

  • August 24, 2017: New Street View added by Dana and Kay Klein
  • August 23, 2017: Updated by Alexander D. Mitchell IV: History and photos added
  • March 6, 2014: Added by Dave King

Sources 

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