Wallace Ferry aka E-town Ferry Road

 

The E-town ferry road and landing have a long history attached to it.  The ferry's beginning actually began in the early 1830's and it was known for many years as the Wallace Ferry and Wallace Ferry Road. 

William Wallace, one of the Wallace family that came to the Tolu area in the 1830's and built the plantation homes of Ridgeway, Westwood, and William's home of Richland. 

 

                 Today the area where Richland stood is farm land.  

William's home was built on the northwest corner of the intersection of now Hwy. 135 and the E-town ferry landing Road.  William also owned and ran a country store.   Having the Ohio River on his property and not too far a distance from his home and farm, he hired a man to purchase and bring a ferry boat from Louisville to his location ab 1834.   At the time the river was the only means of transporting supplies and goods to the North and South and also being able to receive goods.  At this time the Wallace Ferry was established.

 William Wallace sold his home and land to George Croft and I don't know any history of the area for many years.   This house and land was later owned by J. T. May.  In the late 1990's J. T. sold the Richland house to a couple from Texas, they took the house down log by log and moved it to Texas where they rebuilt it and made it into a bed and breakfast, but it's original look was changed when it was rebuilt.

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In the 1930's Charles L. Brazell owned and ran a good ferry business between the Kentucky side landing across the river to Elizabethtown (E'town, Ill).  Mr. Brazell knew the people on the KY side needed a way to get to the spar mines in Southern Ill., many went this route to get married, and still some used the ferry regularly to purchase liquor from E'town.

He hung a bell on the Kentucky side of the river, and when the ferry was needed, if he was on the Illinois side, they would ring the bell and Mr. Brazell would come across and pick the people up, or perhaps bring them some alcoholic beverages, for which this was a well used place for this purpose.  I believe this is the time period that the ferry became known as the E-town ferry.

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After Mr. Brazell owned the ferry, Mr. Russell Hardesty owned and ran the ferry from 1944 until April 1964.  Mr. Hardesty announced that his ferry service between Crittenden County and Elizabethown, Ill., would be closed. Mr. Hardesty said that he had sold both the tow boat and the barge.  Business had fallen off since the fluorspar mining had declined in Illinois and truck traffic was subsequently less. 

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In 1987 a new modern boat ramp was being built at the old ferry landing.  The ramp and new parking lot for boats and trailers was completed sometime later after Nov. 1987.

The E-town Ferry landing as it looks today, Oct. 2022.

View of Elizabethtown or E'town, Ill. from the Kentucky E'town Ferry Landing site .

The very historic old Wallace Ferry Road, today known at E'town Landing Rd.  Notice the high banks on each side where the old road bed had worn down the land being used for nearly 200  years.