Indiana Palladium, August 7, 1830
Petersburg had a ferry to Aurora, and a ferry to Lawrenceburg. But by May, 1947, there were 200 cars a day crossing the Aurora ferry, while only 20 crossed to Lawrenceburg, so the Lawrenceburg ferry ceased operation. It may have had to do with the Lawrenceburg ferry access road being two miles north over a rough road, while the Aurora ferry was a few hundred feet of good gravel road off of a black-topped road. It's probably fair to question, regardless of how they're labeled, which of the images below belong to which ferry route. |
Ohio River Ferry at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, 1907
The Ferry Carolyn
The Carolyn crossed to Lawrenceburg, not Aurora, from
the north ferry landing, also known as Touseytown.
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| Lawrenceburg-Petersburg Ferry | ||
| From a Facebook post by Tracy Simpson, whose grandfather, Charles E. Witham, operated the ferry. |
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| Aurora Ferry, c. 1960 | Aurora Ferry Landing, the Petersburg side |
The Aurora Ferry Landing, the Aurora side. |
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The C. J. |
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The Ferry Everett Lee, |
Everett Lee Pilots Donald and Edward Lyon
| A little background on the Petersburg-Aurora ferry is here. |
Earl Huffman wrote about the history of the ferry here. |
 In 1836, Kentucky authorized a road from Porter's Ferry. It was “opposite the town of Lawrenceburg.” |
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| The Lawrenceburg Ferry changes hands in 1909, with a little history. | We know the ferry dates back at least until 1836. Their ad is here. |
The Pearl, taken from a steamboat
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| The Ferry Pearl, 1939 | The Aurora Ferry |
History of the Lawrenceburg ferry.
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The Farrar family bought the Aurora-Petersburg ferry from Embry E. Klopp in 1942. Klopp ran it for about 30 years. The Farrar's operated the Etta Belle from then until 1945, when the Etta Belle was dismantled, and the Everett Lee was purchased from Warsaw. The C. J. was put into service in 1955, and was used to push the Everett Lee, whose side wheels had been dismantled, making her a barge. The steel hulled-barge Aurora was put into service in 1962, and ran until 1978. |
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| The Aurora Ferry | The Aurora Ferry, the Etta Belle |
The Aurora Ferry, 1962 |
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| The Aurora Ferry, the Etta Belle, 1926 | Aurora Ferryman, 1926 | Aurora Ferry | |
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Ferry Cross The Ohio, 1950's
| “There is an attempt being made by the authorities in this city and Boone county, Ky., to take the ferry at this place from the hands of Mr. Piatt. The attempt will no doubt be successful as it is notorious that this Ferry has been miserable conducted. A large amount of Kentucky trade had been has been lost to our city as a result. We hope that it will be placed in the hands of someone who will attend to it properly.” from the Lawrenceburg Independent Press, July 11, 1855 |
| The Boone County Clerk's
Office issued a ferry franchise, later owned by the Aurora Ferry
Company, in its June, 1819 term, as follows:
"Whereupon a ferry is granted unto said Philip Craig who entered into bond with Geo. G. Shafer, his security pursuant to law and the following rates are allowed for ferriage. For every horse 12 cnts; for every person 12¢; for every coach wagon and the driver, 75¢; for every 4 wheel chase-phaeton and driver, 50¢; for every 2 wheel riding carriage 25¢; for every hogshead of tobacco, 12¢; for every head of meat cattle, 12¢; and for every sheep, goat, hog or lamb, 2½¢." |
Another ad for an 1836 ferry is here.
For substantial portions of the Northern Kentucky Views Petersburg images,
we are indebted to the E. Y. Chapin
Library in Petersburg, and to Ms. Bridget
Stiker, at the Hebron Branch of the
Boone County Library.
