Nolands Ferry I Archeological Site is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

near the historic Noland's Ferry boat landing at mile 44.58 on the

C&O Canal The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the Grand Old Ditch, operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C., and Cumberland, Maryland. It replaced the Patowmack Canal, ...

and

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **'' Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

. The Archeological Site is a prehistoric occupation site located in the Monocacy region of southern

Frederick County, Maryland Frederick County is located in Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population was 271,717. The county seat is Frederick, Maryland, Frederick. The county is part of the Washington metropolitan area, ...

. Diagnostic artifacts at the site indicate that the site was almost continuously inhabited from the

Paleo-Indian period Paleo-Indians were the indigenous peoples of the Americas, first peoples who entered and subsequently inhabited the Americas towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period. The prefix ''paleo-'' comes from . The term ''Paleo-Indians'' applies sp ...

to the early 19th century, with the most substantial inhabitation occurring during the

Late Woodland period In the classification of archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BC to European contact in the eastern part of North America, with some arch ...

. The site was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1985.

Noland's Ferry, for which the site is named, has a broad history from the mid-1700s, with some of America's founding leaders among its customers.

Ferry history

Noland's Ferry began operating in the mid-1700s and carried travelers, their wagons, carriages and livestock across the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

between

Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. The county seat is Leesburg, Virgi ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and

. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

it was used by the U. S. Army and during the Civil War, by the armies of both the North and South. The ferry remained in operation until the early 1900s. Philip Noland was the first Noland to run the ferry and his wife was the daughter of Francis Awbrey (also Aubrey). Awbrey was granted a license for a ferry in 1738 which ran near the Noland Ferry crossing site. The family ferry business got its start at that time and their son Thomas continued to run Noland's Ferry. Thomas Noland's wife Mary Eleanor Luckett is the daughter of William Luckett who had a nearby ferry that Thomas took over. The first original record that mentions Noland's Ferry pre-dates Loudoun County and is in the Fairfax County records of March 20, 1754. The registration for the Catoctin Rural Historic District, section 8 page 3, states that "... As early as 1748 Philip Noland had established a ferry at the site...". In 1756, in a political infight, Philip Noland was denied a license to operate the ferry by the Virginia

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses () was the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly from 1619 to 1776. It existed during the colonial history of the United States in the Colony of Virginia in what was then British America. From 1642 to 1776, the Hou ...

which awarded a license to Josiah Clapham (who was a voting member of that legislature). In 1778 Clapham's license was discontinued and Philip Noland, who appears to have stayed in business without a Virginia license, was awarded one. Because the

is totally in Maryland, as is Noland's Island, approval from Virginia's House of Burgesses appears not to have been critical. In the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, in an attempt to keep the fever out of Virginia, the governor ordered that Nolands and six other Potomac ferries limit travel for those coming from Philadelphia who were required to wait on the Maryland side of the river for six days and were only allowed to proceed if they were without symptoms.

Potomac River crossing

Travel between Virginia and Maryland necessitated crossing the

, the fourth largest east coast river, which has always been an obstacle for travel over land. Several ferries were established to serve that area and Noland's Ferry ran from Leesburg to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

for over 150 years. Noland's Ferry Road leads to a boat ramp on the C&O canal outside Washington, D.C., which was the ferry's Maryland location. In Leesburg, just across the river, the location is marked by Noland's Ferry Road and a house on that road which was built around 1800 by a Noland who ran the ferry. Noland's Island is nearby in the Potomac River.

Carolina Road

The ferry was often used by travelers heading to the Carolinas. The location of the Carolina Road in Northern Virginia is near today's Route 15. In the 1700s, Noland's Ferry was a link between the Virginia and Maryland sections of the Carolina Road.

Revolutionary War

Noland and Luckett family members were strong supporters of American independence. William Luckett was a colonel in the Maryland militia and Thomas No and fought in the Maryland "Flying Camp", a quick response group. Thomas Hussey Luckett and David Luckett were members of the Continental Army. During the Revolutionary War, the American army sent troops and

POWs A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

across the ferry and stored munitions in the ferry warehouses.

Washington and Jefferson

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

and

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

were among the ferry's customers. Jefferson noted that he went via Noland's Ferry in July 1802 on the way from Washington to Monticello and Washington wrote in his diary that he ate at "Knowlands Ferry" on August 9, 1785.

Unfinished ferry house

Sometime after the Revolutionary War ended, a large house was built on the grounds of the ferry and although construction was completed enough to be weathertight, key elements of the house were not finished, including interior woodwork and plaster. The house remained unfinished until the 1950s and the mystery as to why was the subject of a ''

Washington Star ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the ''Washington'' ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday ...

'' magazine article in 1949 with the inaccurate title "200 Year Old House That Was Never Finished".

References

External links

*, including photo in 1978, at Maryland Historical Trust
Google Earth
{{Native Americans in Maryland Archaeological sites in Frederick County, Maryland Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Native American history of Maryland Paleo-Indian archaeological sites in the United States Woodland period National Register of Historic Places in Frederick County, Maryland Ferries of Maryland Ferries of Virginia Transportation in Loudoun County, Virginia Transportation in Frederick County, Maryland