MYSTERY SOLVED

It is a credit to Doddridge that its ferry which once crossed the Red River is now sitting dry-docked upon concrete in a local park.

This is the only ferry in Arkansas so displayed. It may be the only one in the United States.

The ferry is a time capsule of a way of life gone by. Close enough, however, for some to remember it.

The Spring Bank Ferry operated on the Red River connecting Miller and Lafayette counties along state Highway 160. History records a ferry here for 150 years. The Blanton family operated it as a private enterprise from 1836 to 1963. Then, the state took it over.

Decommissioning of the ferry came in 1995. Miller County was able to acquire the original Spring Bank Ferry barge from the Arkansas Department of Transportation in 1997. Miller County and the Doddridge Community were then able to acquire the tug and bring it home to the park where it now rests, snuggled to the barge.

One would drive one’s car up the ramp and onto the barge, then the ferry would back out, pulling loose from mud and out into the stream where its tug would swing around to change pushing directions.

The tug’s 671 Detroit six-cylinder diesel engine with its 30-inch prop would push against the current to nestle the ponderous craft safely on the other side, a five to 10 minute ride at normal river levels.

If the goal was the west side, there would be a concrete landing ramp. But if east, it would be a search for hundreds of yards up and down the bank to find the landing site with deep enough water for an approach. That spot could change during the day.

When the ferry banked, the deck hand would unhook the apron, and the deck hand in the wheel house would operate the winch to lower the bankside apron while raising the river-side ramp, both to a balanced position. This took five turns of the winch wheel, powered by an ordinary car engine starter motor.

In summer months, the ferry operated 16 hours a day, from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Vehicles were carried often one at a time but sometimes as many as four.

In spring, the ferry sometimes had to shut down because of flood waters carrying debris or trees. In late summer and fall, the problem would be low water levels and the blocking by sand bars.

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department discontinued the crossing April 7, 1995. The barge lay dry-docked in a wood area near the river for as many as 17 years. The tug went to the Peel ferry in Northern Arkansas on Lake Bull Shoals.

It was then that Doddridge residents had the idea for the park barge and tug, and fundraisers bought the tug from the highway department for $1,151 and brought it back home to the park to join the barge. The community center park opened in September, 2011.

Today the ferry is a charming relic, a living example of a successful community effort. The person most responsible for the idea is Lonnie Hazel, the last pilot of the Spring Bank ferry and strong supporter-member of the Doddridge Volunteer Fire Department.

The effort to move the ferry from river bank to its park in the center of town was a major accomplishment, filled with gifts of time, money and equipment. The larger Arkansas community did it.

Today people come to look at the 80,000-lb. barge and 13,000-lb. tug all in Omaha orange color and may realize it is perhaps the most elegant one in captivity.

It is then when everyone will wonder, “How did it feel to get on and ride?”

Maybe they will hear some wag say, “The only people sentimental about ferries are those who didn’t have to ride them.”

The Spring Bank Ferry is, indeed, a charming relic.