Maine Department of Transportation

Description

A 1938 Pontiac headed for Westport Island loads onto the Westport Ferry from the Wiscasset Landing. The ferry is a scow guided by a cable that ran under the Back River from Wiscasset to Westport.

The cable and its anchor on the Wiscasset landing are visible. The ferry operator could pull the scow along the cable by hand or use a motor boat, as pictured here, to power the ferry along the cable.

Luther Cromwell, ferry operator, is pictured in the motor boat. Luther worked with his father on the ferry, and was officially appointed as a ferry operator by the Westport Selectmen in 1941 after his father's death.

The ferry operated from 1899 until a bridge between Westport Island and Wiscasset was built in 1950.

View additional information about this item on the Maine Memory Network.