Norfolk Highlights 1584 - 1881
By George Holbert Tucker
Chapter 34
The Norfolk-Portsmouth Ferries
The Gosport, a "neat and handsome vessel," built in Portsmouth
and outfitted with her engine in Philadelphia, was the first steam ferry
to run between Norfolk and Portsmouth. She made her first trips across
the harbor in 1832, taking five minutes, then considered a fast trip,
to navigate from wharf to wharf.
At that time, however, Norfolk already had a ferry history dating from
1636, when Captain Adam Thoroughgood had set up the first convenience
of its sort south of Hampton Roads, using a crude, hand-rowed skiff
to replace the hit-or-miss log canoe navigation of the Indians.
The appearance of the Gosport in Norfolk harbor established a tradition
of regular service that was terminated one hundred and twenty-three
years later on August 31, 1955. Ferry service between Norfolk and Portsmouth
was restored once more in 1983.
Before the coming of steam, the Norfolk-Portsmouth ferries were first
serviced by man-powered boats, and later with larger craft equipped
with paddle wheels driven by blind mules or horses on a treadmill. During
the latter period, according to tradition, the man who leased the ferries
made a point to hire only one-legged men to row the boats. On one occasion
when a persistent two-legged man kept insising on being given a job,
the ferry captain got rid of him by grabbing a saw and making a dive
for the applicant's right leg. At that point, the insistent seeker of
employment sought a job elsewhere.
Once the puffing old tubs took over the harbor, many colorful events
took place that contributed greatly to the folklore of the Norfolk area.
Shortly after steam replaced manpower, mulepower, and horsepower on
the ferry run, an unsuspecting Norfolk area citizen, according to tradition,
wound up wishing that he hadn't been so curious. Mistaking a brass-bound
exhaust pipe projecting from the wall of one of the Gosport's successors
as a speaking tube, he carried on a one-way conversation until a gush
of steam from the boiler room resulted in his being presented with a
set of false teeth by the ferry officials.
Then there was the Manahassett, a popular side-wheeler that was known
as the "Mammy Ferry." The upper deck of this boat was enclosed
in lattice work, making it a safe place for children to play while riding
across the harbor.
Every sunny summer afternoon while the Manahassett was plying the harbor,
her upper deck was reserved for Norfolk area nursemaids. And after the
gate leading to the upper deck had been locked by a deckhand, they would
settle down for a leisurely gossip in the checquered sunlight while
their charges romped all over the upper deck for an inclusive fare of
twenty-five cents per party for the entire afternoon.
There was also the Confederate flag incident which took place when
the Federal forces were operating the ferries from 1862 to 1865. Hoping
to humiliate the Confederate sympathizers in Norfolk and Portsmouth,
some of the soldiers guarding the Portsmouth ferry terminal stretched
the Stars and Bars across the floor at the entrance of the ticket booth.
During the ensuing melee, a loyal Southern girl snatched up the flag,
secreted it in her muff, and escaped before she could be apprehended.
One of the best stories concerning the old ferriers, however, dates
from the early 1850s, when a male passenger strenuously objected in
the press to the obscene drawings and graffiti he found on the waiting
room walls during his crossings of the harbor. Taking the hint, the
ferry management promised to have the room whitewashed every week. But
it also added a footnote for the benefit of the prudish bellyacher:
"Go into the waiting room and sit quietly down," it admonished,
"not wasting your time reading the scribbling on the wall."
 Chapter
35
The Making of a Shrine
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