About Historic White’s Ferry
Established in 1786, historic White’s Ferry in Leesburg, Virginia, remains a significant transportation route between Maryland and Virginia, carrying nearly 800 daily users when operational. White’s Ferry represents a piece of the region’s past as an early commerce route that built and sustained local economies and remains so today. As more businesses invite employees back post-pandemic, the need for the ferry to reopen will multiply exponentially as an alternative to heavily traveled Route 15.
The ferry was purchased in February, 2021 by Chuck and Stacy Kuhn, owners of JK Moving Services. The Kuhns are planning several upgrades to the ferry over the next few years, bringing more operational and environmental efficiencies to improve services and preserve a piece of history.
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ABOUT JK LAND HOLDINGS, LLC
JK Land Holdings, LLC (JKLH) - owned by the Kuhn family - seeks land acquisitions that can be sold, leased, developed, placed into conservation easement, or utilized by sister companies JK Moving Services, the largest independent moving company in the nation, and CapRelo, a global employee relocation firm.
JKLH was founded in 2016, and has reinvested monies gained from land acquisition into protecting properties and tracts of land from future development. Over the past decade, JKLH has strategically redeployed more than 22,000 acres - or one and half times the size of Manhattan - of its purchases into conservation easement, ensuring vulnerable vistas and habitats are preserved and protected for future generations.
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ABOUT CHUCK KUHN
Chuck Kuhn started JK Moving Services at 16 years of age in the basement of his parents’ Northern Virginia home. His goal was to ensure a stress-free moving experience that was the best offered in the industry; and to treat everyone, from customers to employees to those in the community, with care and respect. Kuhn is now the CEO of JK Moving Services and Chairman of its sister company CapRelo.
Kuhn has remained focused on giving back to the community - no matter where that community might be. Kuhn has won numerous awards, including being recognized by the Washington Business Journal as a Top Corporate Philanthropist and Old Dominion Land Conservancy for his conservation efforts.
What’s Happening
Since purchasing the historic White’s Ferry in February 2021, Chuck and Stacy Kuhn have been encountering obstacles to reopening this important river crossing, considering it needed to regain use rights in Virginia. In response to the suspended service, Loudoun and Montgomery Counties conducted a study to evaluate alternatives and address issues, challenges, and opportunities for restoring this important regional transportation link.
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April 17, 2024 - Owners offer to donate White's Ferry to Montgomery County in hopes of restarting operations
Over the past three years, the Kuhns have worked to develop a proposal to gain access to the ferry’s Virginia landing at Rockland Farm, but negotiations with the landowners never reached a deal.
By NBC Washington Staff
April 16, 2024 - Kuhn Family Offers to Donate White’s Ferry to Montgomery County
White’s Ferry owners—Chuck and Stacy Kuhn—have formally offered to donate the White’s Ferry operation to Montgomery County. This most recent offer is part of their commitment to getting the ferry operational to preserve history, save jobs, and reduce traffic.
April 11, 2024 - Easement dispute keeps White’s Ferry landing closed
What started as a trespassing dispute in 2004 led to a court battle that’s lasted more than a decade. Failed negotiations ensued, and for years some area residents have called for Loudoun County to exercise the power of eminent domain to get the ferry running again.
January 2024 - The Sinking of White’s Ferry: The End of a Great Era
As we begin a new year, I am afraid we also have come to an end of an era. The iconic White’s Ferry and all it represents and means to this town is unlikely to operate again. I have been hopeful, even optimistic, throughout this ordeal that a solution could be found, but at this junction, I only see one path to opening the service again, and it is a very narrow path at that.
October 26,2023- White's Ferry owners increase offer to buy Virginia dock amid ongoing legal battle
The owners of White’s Ferry have increased their offer to buy the ferry’s landing site on the Virginia side, which is owned by Rockland Farms.
October 23, 2023 - Statement from White’s Ferry Following 10/16 Public Hearing
Chuck and Stacy Kuhn, with support from local authorities, increased their offer to $1.25 million for 1.4 acres of the White's Ferry landing site. This exceeds the previous bid of $1.1 million, emphasizing the community's commitment to revive the cherished ferry and its cultural legacy.
March 29, 2023 - Kuhn looks to sell White’s Ferry to Montgomery County as standoff with Rockland Farm continues
A new chapter has opened in the years-long saga over reopening White’s Ferry, the privately owned operation north of Leesburg which closed in late 2020 after a 16-year legal dispute. The ferry’s current owner, real estate investor Chuck Kuhn, now wants to sell the operation to Montgomery County, Maryland, in hopes that it will lead to the resumption of service. The announcement came as Kuhn and Rockland Farm, which owns the Potomac River frontage where the ferry operated on the Virginia side, continued to trade barbs over who is at fault for the ongoing closure.
March 27, 2023 - Kuhns and Local Governments Combined Offer to Get White’s Ferrt Operational Rejected by Virginia Landowners. The offer Would Have Enabled the Ferry to Reopen in 30 Days.
“We are grateful for the significant and good faith efforts of our local and state governments on both sides of the Potomac to help us re-open White’s Ferry. It’s unfathomable that one family is standing in the way of people’s livelihoods. We have run out of options and will now seek to sell the ferry land and operations to Montgomery County so it can work with Virginia to invoke eminent domain and acquire the Virginia landing site. This is not what we had hoped, but we understand the importance of White’s Ferry to the region’s economy—and the ferry needs to get moving again,” explained Chuck Kuhn, Owner, of White’s Ferry.
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July 1, 2022 - Monocacy Monocle article excerpts offering overview of current status of the Ferry
“The prospect of White’s Ferry opening has become mired in an impasse with no meaningful expectation of progress any time soon. Both Chuck Kuhn, the current owner of White’s Ferry, and the Brown family, who sold the enterprise to Kuhn, have not been able to obtain a settlement over use of the Virginia landing from Rockland Farm, LLC. Mr. Kuhn’s first offer to Rockland for the land was $500,000 and then later increased to $750,000 for the perpetual landing rights of the land. This for a 3,500-to 5,000-square-foot parcel that had been legally considered a public landing from the late 1870s until 2014. The land is on the shoreline, making it unsuitable to build on or farm as it is in a prime flooding zone. Its only marketable value is tied to the ferry. Additionally, to get the ferry open, Kuhn further offered to purchase the entire Rockland Farm for $14,000,000, an amount that at the time was more than three appraisals on the property.”
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November 30, 2021 - Statement by Herbert Brown, previous Owner of White’s Ferry
“Now they [Rockland Farm] are trying to get that large amount from Chuck Kuhn, the new owner. My understanding is that he offered more than we did for the easement, but the boat’s business history doesn’t support Rockland Farm’s extraordinary request. The only reason Rockland Farm wants the Ferry re-opened is to have a perpetual annuity to support the Farm from someone else’s labor. It is not for the public, as they claim.
If they want the operation to re-open, they should come forward with a reasonable proposal for an easement so everyone can move forward. No one can operate the Ferry as on ongoing business based on Rockland’s current demands.”
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November 20, 2021 - Statement by Chuck Kuhn, Owner of White’s Ferry
“We have made numerous very fair offers to lease and/or purchase the landing site in good faith with no success. Rockland Farm’s repeated demands for $2 million cash for the small parcel of land that constitutes the landing site or 50 cents a car each way along with unacceptable deal terms made negotiations impossible. In addition to purchasing the landing site, at their request and our cost, we had the entire Rockland Farm appraised three times to explore the possibility of purchasing the whole farm as an option for reopening the landing site. We subsequently made a $13.5 million cash offer to purchase the entire farm—which was actually higher than two of the appraisals. Rockland made no counteroffer and ultimately rejected our offer. We further proposed to donate the ferry and the land we own to the respective governments in an attempt to reopen the ferry for our region.”