By Cathy Ingalls, Albany Regional Museum board member
Before there were bridges, towns such as Albany established on navigable rivers depended on ferries to carry goods, wagons, livestock and passengers from one side to the other.
Grahamona ferry steamboat in the Willamette. Albany Hotel at center. First National Bank at right. Albany Regional Museum Collection 2007015316
Alexander Rainwater owned a farm on the north bank of the Willamette River just up river from Albany. Starting in the late1850s and into the mid-1880s, he conducted a ferry service from near the mouth of the Calapooia River.
He also constructed a riverboat landing on his property from which goods could be shipped downriver.
Early ferries carried mostly wagons and people, while the later ferries transported trains and then vehicles.
Ferries were not regulated prior to 1849, according to Albany author Ed Loy in his book “Gem of the Willamette Valley: A History of Albany Oregon.”
Before that year, operators charged whatever people would pay. Because of the growing reliance on ferries, the state’s new territorial government required owners to get licenses from counties and to limit tolls.
Operators had to keep their landings in good repair, Loy writes, and they were required to post a fee schedule so those using the ferries knew the transportation costs in advance.
Ferry boat at the Broadalbin dock. Albany Regional Museum collection 2007015314
In Albany in 1851, the owner charged 75 cents for a wagon and a team, 20 cents for packhorses and mules, 12 ½ cents per passenger, 10 cents for loose cattle, 5 cents for sheep and hogs and 5 cents for 100 pounds of freight.
It is estimated that more than 500 ferries operated in the state during the height of that needed service. Now there are only three: Those are the Canby, Wheatland north of Salem and the Buena Vista north of Albany.
The first recorded ferry in Oregon was the Wheatland on the Willamette River. It was constructed between 1843-44 and run by Jesse Applegate when he was at the former Methodist Mission at Mission Bottom near Salem.
Later, Daniel Matheny started another ferry in the same general area in the 1850s.
Today, the ferry runs on a cable that connects Marion and Yamhill counties. The ferry travels about 580 feet and is powered by two electric motors that are connected to an on-board diesel generator.
The ferry, operated by Marion County, is supported by two steel cables one under the water on the downriver side and the other overhead on the upriver side. The overhead cable also helps steer the craft.
The Buena Vista Ferry is also a cable craft that crosses the Willamette River between Marion and Polk counties. It travels about 720 feet and was established in 1852.
The Marion County Public Works Department is in charge of the ferry.
The Canby Ferry also operated by cable across the Willamette was established in 1914 and connects Canby with Wilsonville/Stafford in Clackamas County.
The first ferry was purchased in Newberg by Canby Mayor W. H. Bair and Harry B. Evans representing the Canby Business Men’s Club. The ferry was driven by the current, and the cable held the craft on course.
Clem Dollar was the first ferry operator and he was paid $10 a month by the city of Canby.
Edward Kilgallen, who lost an arm in childhood, was the second ferry operator and for some reason his salary was reduced to $7.50 per month.
In January 1946, rains and a flooded river swept the ferry from its mooring and pieces of the craft were sent over Willamette Falls.
In 1961, the ferry was featured on the cover of Sunset magazine.
More information about ferry operations in Albany can be found in Loy’s book on sale at the Albany Regional Museum. The museum at 136 Lyon St. S can be reached at 541-967-7122 or go to info@armuseum.com.
The museum is open from 11a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m.to 2 p.m. Saturday.