Kuhn Family Proposes Donation of Whites Ferry to Montgomery County
By Norman K. Styer / Loudoun Now
April 17, 2024
After a three-year stalemate, the Kuhn family is hoping to get White’s Ferry running again by donating it to Montgomery County, MD.
Chuck and Stacy Kuhn bought the ferry in early 2021 after it closed following a Loudoun County Circuit Court ruling that the longtime owners did not hold legal authority to use the ferry’s Virginia landing at Rockland Farm.
At the time, the Kuhns hoped to quickly restart the operation that provided an important economic and commuter link since 1786. Today it is the only Potomac River crossing between Point of Rocks and the American Legion Bridge.
However, negotiations with the Virginia landowners never reached a deal. State leaders in Maryland and Virginia along with county representatives in Montgomery and Loudoun also evaluated alternatives to secure a Virginia landing without success.
Over the years, the Kuhns made offers, climbing to $1.25 million, to purchase an easement for the Virginia landing and alternatively offered to sell the ferry and an easement on the Maryland side to the Rockland owners. The Rockland owners sought a requirement to collect a 50-cent per car fee to permit the ferry operations to resume, a condition the Kuhns said would take half of the operating revenue and make the business unviable.
Chuck Kuhn said he hoped that donating the ferry to Montgomery County would find more success.