Truckin' on the Western Branch

The Western Branch river house sailed on the James?

For years a river house on pilings was a familiar sight in the Western Branch of the Elizabeth River, across from Cypress Cove condominiums on the Hatton Point waterfront. But few people know that the cabin was originally the deckhouse of the Captain John Smith ferry. According to Bill Fox, a naval historian, Albert F. Jester, an experienced ferryman, had the ferry Captain John Smith built by the Isaiah Hundley Marine Railway at Battery Park, Virginia, in 1924. With the 65-foot, 60-horsepower, wooden vessel, Jester launched ferry service across the James River in 1925 between Surry and Jamestown. The $19,000 ferry held 100 passengers and 16 vehicles. His son-in-law, S. Wallace Edwards, founder of S. Wallace Edwards & Sons, Inc., producer of Virginia country hams, bacon, and sausage, was one of the ferry’s original captains. Jester ran and expanded the ferry system for 20 years before he sold the service to the Virginia Department of Transportation. The upper

Scott Wheeler. Image by Sheally

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