All Aboard in Fredericktown

Washington PA Observer Reporter
27 June 2010
By Scott Beveridge, Staff writer

sbeveridge@observer-reporter.com

FREDERICKTOWN - A bar helping to jump-start tourism in the Fredericktown area gave pedestrians free rides Saturday on a historic ferry boat on the verge of being forever dry-docked.

Bowers Brothers Lounge, situated on the ramp leading to Ferry Boat Frederick, also hosted a festival Saturday in honor of the cable-driven boat that might be rendered useless when a new bridge opens a short distance down the Monongahela River.

"It's nice to promote this thing, and next year it's going to be a save-the-ferry-boat thing," said John Bowers, who owns the bar with his brother, Scott.

Ferry service has survived for two centuries in this area between Washington and Fayette counties. The current steel vessel built in 1948 was put into operation there in 1973 in an agreement between the two counties, with Fayette collecting tolls and paying pilots.

But, with construction of the nearby Mon-Fayette Expressway linking Centerville with Uniontown, some believe the 35-ton boat won't survive much longer.

"My understanding of nature and economics is that it's going to be a relic of the past," Washington County Commissioner J. Bracken Burns has said.

Regardless, a large crowd of people turned out Saturday for free ferry rides across the 400-foot river channel to LaBelle and back to Fredericktown.

John Bowers paid for the trips, as his contribution to a new initiative to bring visitors to town.

Bowers participated in efforts to promote the Maxwell Basin Recreation Area, which formed three weeks ago "to do something for the area," said its founder, Dennis Slagel.

The basin stretches from Maxwell Locks and Dam near Brownsville upriver to Point Marion. But, so far, representatives of the tourism group include just people in Fredericktown and neighboring Millsboro, said Slagel, 59, who owns Bee's Graphics in Fredericktown.

"The river is the asset," he said.

The group kicked off this summer season with Memorial Day services followed by a rib fest at a local marina. It also will sponsor a festival around the Fourth of July, complete with fireworks at dark July 3.

"We're testing the water so far, and we'll build on what's to come," Slagel said.