SISTERSVILLE FERRY

During 2017-2018, Ohio Valley residents celebrated 200 years of ferry service from
Sistersville, WV to Fly, OH. At the time the service began, West Virginia was in the
The Commonwealth of Virginia and Fly, Ohio was part of the Northwest Territory. Ferry service
from Sistersville to Fly started in 1817 (or earlier) and was officially authorized by the General
Assembly of The Commonwealth of Virginia on January 28, 1818 with the franchise awarded
to John McCoy. John McCoy and his wife and heirs ran the service, known as the McCoy
Ferry until 1894 when it was sold to Frank and A.S. McCoy and EzibaTalbott. During the oil

boom that Sistersville experienced, this provided an invaluable resource. In 1920, the ferry

was reorganized into a stock company. In succeeding years, it was operated through stock 

acquisitions by Everett Tuel (1937) and Joe Witten (1955). In 1964 the company was sold to 

Gilbert “Dib” Harmon who ran the ferry until 1977. Ferry service was suspended until 1981 when

the City of Sistersville, with the assistance of a Governor’s Partnership grant, restored service. 

The city maintains the ferry service to this day. Until 1889, the ferry boats were predominantly

paddlewheel boats powered by a horse on a treadmill. Sistersville's ferry boats evolved 

as technology and industry improved. In 1889 the ferry owners purchased a steam-powered ferry. 

Later ferries were powered by gasoline with the current vessel employing less flammable diesel fuel.

The vessel operating today is the City of Sistersville II with the barge named the G.B. Harmon, 

both of which were constructed in 1999.

 

While the City of Sistersville currently owns the ferry, the ferry runs with no monetary
assistance from the city. So it must be self-sustaining. The ferry generates operating funds
through fares, public and private cruises, grants, merchandise sales, and donations. Today,
the Sistersville Ferry is West Virginia's last operating vehicle and pedestrian ferry, the only
ferry operating on the upper 427 miles of the river and is crucial to the efficient transport of
goods and services within its region. Through the dedication of several private owners, and
now, the City of Sistersville, the ferry has provided two centuries of transportation service to
the people and businesses of a 32-mile stretch of the river not served by an Ohio River

bridge. 

Ferries names we have found documented are:

1886 Orion
1889 W.C. Pusey
1917 Dora T
1938 Elinor D
1939 John F III
Kiwanis (until 1956)
1957 Rides
1999 City of Sistersville II (barge is the G.B.)